Seal Master of Konoha
by BloodRed13
Summary: AU fanfic sequel: He was the most unusual individual she'd ever met. He was scatterbrained, boastful and an unapologetic prankster, but he was also warm and inviting. And he always saw her for who she really was. And for that she hoped she wouldn't have to let him go…
1. Soushiki

**AN:** And so it begins... (and soushiki means funeral) _  
_

* * *

 _He was the most unusual individual she'd ever met. He was scatterbrained, boastful and an unapologetic prankster, but he was also warm and inviting. And he always saw her for who she really was. And for that, she hoped she wouldn't have to let him go..._

* * *

 **Seal Master of Konoha**

 _Prologue: Soushiki_ _ **「葬式」**_

Silence blanketed the air, deafening the usually lively chatter of the forest all around Hinata. The muted chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves were almost nonexistent as if nature itself could tell what this day truly was. A day of loss. A day of longing, of mourning those gone too soon.

A day where the normally peaceful calm of the forest transformed into a stifling stillness, almost suffocating as she stood amongst the wilderness. This was what her life had become. The ground slipping from under her, ever shifting as she tried to find her footing. She felt as small as barely thirteen years could create.

It was like drowning beneath the high tide, rooted in place. A constant storm pelting her with the heavy rains of expectations she no longer knew how to shoulder. Not in this new world. Not in this existence where she was left to stand helpless as the waters engulfed her. _Powerless_. She could no sooner struggle against her fate than the sea against the will of the moon. And that…

Hinata shook her head, unwilling to name the emotion that rolled within her. A myriad of emotions that raged just beneath the surface threatening to crack her carefully crafted mask of indifference. He would have been ashamed. He would have lifted his head in just that way to indicate his complete dissatisfaction with her progress, with her mannerisms, with her strength, with _her_. A voice filtering through her thoughts condemning her for her failures. For her inability to separate herself from her emotions because this was _not_ her day to mourn. To crumbled beneath the weight of expectations neither new nor unexpected yet wearily heavy all the same.

No, that day did not exist for her. Not with the weight bearing down on her shoulders. Overwhelming. Oppressive as it colored every thought and every action with uncertainty. Mortification flooding her system at every mental hesitation. _This_ was not what he would have wanted. Not what he'd painstakingly taught her day after long, unending day. _This_ was weakness she couldn't afford and yet it crept at her consciousness all the same. A truth whispered in the nothingness that spoke of the very failing he'd spent so much time trying to rectify.

 _This_ was _everything_ he would have hated. Everything he _loathed_ , each biting criticism delivered in that tone, as cold as ice and as sharp as a kunai. It was the phantom memory of shaky hands and hesitant steps that had been corrected well before they'd been allowed to become a habit. This was loss. This was…

A disruption in the wind flow pulled Hinata from her spiraling thoughts as someone approached her location. In an instant, the forest regained its life. Muted sounds, dampened smells all returning in a rush as she shifted her focus to the intruder.

Recognition was almost instantaneous. The tense pinch between her shoulder blades easing as she immediately relaxed at its familiarity. Warm in the way that only he could be. Crisp like the morning dew in the surrounding forest. The ease of the familiar far more potent as her intruder grew closer, the sharp tang of ink and blood lingering on her tongue.

It could be only one person. The only person who would dare to intrude on her solitude. And oddly enough, the only person who's intrusion was welcomed. ' _Uzumaki-kun_.'

Without her conscious consent, she remembered blue eyes like the vast oceans of trips she refused to remember laced as they were with bittersweet memories. Instead she remembered blond hair as golden as the blinding sun and a brilliant smile to match its intensity. It seemed simple enough, those characteristics unique in their village, but he was so much more than that to her now. Had probably always been.

He was dry ink and parchment, confined to spaces she associated with control and order, and yet he also somehow embodied the natural chaos of the forest. He was a duality of concepts that she hadn't thought possible to coexist together, but he somehow made it work. And he was warm…

'Warm,' she mulled the thought over, rolling it across her tongue as he grew closer to her position. Until she'd met him, she'd had only limited references to the feeling. The hint of a memory nearly forgotten in its distance and rarity, but it fit him perfectly because he _was_ warm. And of course, he was so much _more_ than that simple descriptor, but despite her expansive vocabulary, she couldn't find a better term.

It was simple. The contagious warmth that seeped into her every pore. Even on _this_ day filled with cold, somber grief and something far more chilling lurking just beneath the surface, she felt the beginnings of something warm, affectionate even, bubble to the surface. It was…

She shook the thought from her head as she turned to face Uzumaki-kun properly as he pulled up behind her, his movements almost completely silent.

* * *

Naruto's eyes darted across the forest below, alert and careful as his gaze traced for any and every available hint that would lead him to his query. Unsurprisingly, Hinata-hime was difficult to track, the natural glide to her gait harder to follow than most of the ninja he'd spent days trailing. Even so, there were hints of her presence steering his course. Small mistakes that he wouldn't believe she'd leave if she truly wanted to be hidden. He hoped that meant she didn't mind being found.

Instinctually, he lightened his steps slowing the cadence of his breaths to blend into the surrounding wildlife as he approached an isolated clearing just on the outskirts of the Hyuuga Clan property. Complete silence was impossible, but also completely unnecessary. He only had to be light like the critters crawling across the forest floor, each movement like that of the wind passing through the trees. He was like the life of the forest, invisible as they were and it was more than natural to fall into these practiced steps. So much so that he barely noticed the change in his own gait.

Soon enough the familiar black and white kimono came into view. The snow white haori in stark contrast with the colors of the forest, even muted by winter's cold touch. The Hyuuga Clan symbol emblazed on her back right along with a set of characters that he'd become intimately familiar with. Sure, he still didn't know _exactly_ what it said, but he did know it wasn't the characters for ' _Hyuuga_ '. And while he'd never been very good at reading kanji, even _he_ could recognize the character for world on her back no matter what Sakura said. It was just the second one that was always giving him trouble. Not that it really mattered. Hinata-hime was Hinata-hime.

Briefly, he wondered if it said ' _Koushi_ ' like he'd heard most of the villagers call her, or maybe it said ' _Yotsugi_ ' which he assumed was some weird Hyuuga equivalent because they were the only ones to call her that. He really should remember to look those words up. 'Oh well,' shrugging, Naruto brushed the idea aside as another idea slowly formed in his mind. It didn't really matter what the characters said, not when that wasn't really who she _was_. And especially not when there was a perfect opportunity right in front of him that he just _couldn't_ pass up.

Intentionally, he softened his footsteps even further, carefully picking his way through the forest as he moved towards Hinata-hime. It didn't _seem_ like she'd noticed his approach, her sightless gaze still firmly forwards, back turned to him as she continued to blindly stare out into the dense foliage. 'Good, she'll never see it coming.' He smiled as his imagination supplied a startled Hinata-hime. A squeal slipping passed her lips in her surprise. Her focus would be solely on him, him and that temporary fear of the unknown and nothing else.

And sure, that did seem a bit underhanded given that she was down one sense. Her inability to see him would certainly make his little trick more startling than normal. And yeah, normally this kind of prank would be beneath him in its utter simplicity, but…

Naruto tried not to shake his head as his thoughts lingered, hesitant to complete the real reason he'd been out and about far earlier than any non-Gai-sensei training day required. No, he wouldn't normally consider pulling a prank like this, but today wasn't like a normal day. No, today was her dad's funeral. And while he couldn't really relate to the pain she must be feeling, he could at least do everything in his power to take her mind off it, no matter the method. Cheap shot or not.

Posed, practically crouched and ready to pounce, Hinata-hime turned in his direction before he could move. Sightless gaze angled up at him, tilted just a tad too low for him to imagine that she was looking into his eyes – a fact that really wasn't her fault as the six centimeter lifts he'd needed for his disguise had likely shifted were she was use to looking at his face. Caught, Naruto sheepishly straightened before closing the distance like a normal person. Hinata-hime had seen straight through his plot – easily finding him even when he was at his stealthiest. Again. A smile formed on his lips as he finally pulled up to her side.

"Someday I'll sneak up on you, just you wait," he stated, a grin growing wider on his lips as the passion of a new challenge filled his eyes. That was a _promise._ A promise on a list that just kept growing, but unlike the ever growing chore list stuck to his refrigerator, he felt a shiver of excitement at the prospect of adding more and more things to this one. And he really shouldn't have been surprised. This was his best friend after all. He'd never tire of hanging out with her no matter what it was and his growing list just proved it.

"Recognition is more than our auditory and visual senses," she replied, acknowledging his presence with a simple nod in greeting. He could see that she was still slightly distracted as her normal hyper focus on him was gone, but that was to be expected. In fact, he'd been preparing himself mentally all morning for the cold shoulder Hinata-hime had yet to give him. Seeing her now though, he was beginning to think she might never have reason to give it.

Turning away from her knowing that his presence wasn't unwelcomed, he let his mind think about what he might have done wrong with his attempt to sneak up on her. 'More than sound and sight?' He'd really not thought all that much on how his best friend must ' _see_ '. But it made sense. She maneuvered around trees and within large crowds with ease. There was no hesitation. She was just as good if not better than other ninja he knew. And it couldn't be explained by hyper awareness of _just_ those two senses.

Nodding his head he spoke aloud, "Oh that explains so much. You move around way better than a lot of the Chuunin who try to track me after an entirely innocent unfortunate series of completely unrelated events that happen within the village. You'd have to be doing more than them to have caught me." He paused for a moment, waving away the thought of the hordes of people that had tried and failed to capture him after a very successful and epic prank with a flippant sweep of his hand before continuing.

"I always just assumed you had eagle ears or something like that. But I suppose the shift in the air might have given me away. And you know, I thought I took a bath this morning, but I guess you can't ever really wash off the smell of ink." He nodded as his mind wandered to the possibility of developing a scentless ink. Ah, the endless possibilities. "Oh well," he added, storing the idea away for later as he focused his attention back on his friend, smile wide across his lips, "that will just make it that much better when I finally sneak up on you, believe it!"

At his declaration, tense shoulders eased. It was just a tad, barely noticeable. Likely unperceivable if he hadn't been watching for the usual tells, but it was there and Naruto's grin could only grow because of it. _That_ was as relaxed as Hinata-hime ever let herself be in public. At least he _hoped_ it was just in public. If she couldn't be herself behind closed doors, then where _could_ she.

With an internal shrug, Naruto pushed that thought aside. That didn't matter at the moment. After all, what could he do about that now? No, what mattered was the fact that _he'd_ been able to put her just a tad more at ease. And he was sure that if she'd been facing him, he'd also be able to catch the little crinkle at the edge of her mouth. That small twitch of amusement that just _begged_ to be drawn out into a smile. And sure the smile was being held back by practiced ease, but it was there. He knew it. And better yet, _he'd_ put it there. His best friend was both relaxed _and_ amused and that was a heck of a lot better than the alternative.

"Should I be concerned that you managed to infiltrate the Compound?" she questioned filling the silence that had previously surrounded them, a silence he hadn't even noticed existed until she'd broken it.

'Good question,' Naruto thought as he glanced down at his outfit. Each detail meticulously chosen to perfectly replicate that of the Hyuuga policeman's identity that he'd _borrowed_ for the day. He briefly debated if anyone else could match the detail he'd put into borrowing Private First Class Liang's identity. The brown wig filled with perfectly styled long, natural hair. The dark brown contacts he'd chosen to hide his own exotic blues. His normal whisker marks covered under a layer of foundation, and Private First Class Liang's unique unit tattoo intricately applied to his forehead.

While Hinata-hime couldn't see the painstaking detail he'd put into his impersonation, it was downright immaculate. Certainly nothing to snuff at. Really, the only thing that separated him from Private First Class Liang was the other boy's exact voice patterns, which was a task he still hadn't perfected, but something he was sure would come eventually.

'Nope, don't think anyone else could manage something like this,' Naruto thought with a sharp nod before a frown slowly etched its way across his face. It was true he didn't think anyone else could replicate the feat, but for some reason he was still sure Hinata-hime would not approve of _him_ managing it in the first place. Surely, if she could see him, she'd be pointing a disappointed frown his way. He'd seen her aim it at one of her clansmen once. No words, just the slight drop of her lips. And the poor sap had nearly run away, ready to commit seppuku because ritualistic suicide was the _only_ reasonable response to failing so epically in the eyes of Hinata-hime.

Yeah, he didn't want that look pointed his way. Certainly not when she'd likely follow the look with all the hard questions that no one else seemed to ask. Like how he'd managed to obtain Private First Class Liang's credentials and information in the first place. No, he didn't want to have to answer a question like that. Still, he had to say something.

His first instinct was to deny everything. After all, what Hinata-hime couldn't _see_ wouldn't get him in trouble. But that hardness of her face, every angle sharper than it should be almost completely erasing the ease he'd managed to put there gave him pause. That was worry. Fear for her clan, her _family_. And he couldn't live with keeping that there. No, he didn't want that at all.

So instead he laughed nervously, stalling for the few extra seconds that he would need to come up with something honest. Something truthful enough to answer his best friend that would undo at least some of her concerns about the safety of her clan. Something that wouldn't be a lie, but also wouldn't reveal all his trade secrets. Sure, they were best friends and he was certain to tell them to her _someday_ , but that would take a _much_ longer conversation under _far_ better circumstances.

So, instead he searched for something else. Reviewing his memories of this morning to try to find something. Almost instantly, his mind landed on how short staffed the check-in gate had been, on how quiet the mood had been. The distraction. A distraction that had aided his quest like never before.

Suddenly, he realized what it was. 'The funeral.' Clearly, the funeral had affected far more than just his best friend. "Considering today, can you really blame security?" he questioned, speaking with an open sincerity that he typically tried to avoid.

'No.'

He could read the answer from the slight tilt of her head, cast downward and away from him, there was a sadness there that seemed to bare down on her with an astonishing weight. Silent and regal, Hinata-hime stood before him with a clarity of understanding that only came with personal familiarity. The weight of this day so much _heavier_ than he could ever dream of understanding.

Even now, he could feel her drifting back to that dark place he'd found her in, pulling away from him in the heavy weight of the silence that filled the space between them. And he couldn't have that.

"And hey, it's not like it's easy to get in here," he continued lightly. "You know, only a pranking genius like myself, a true master of the craft, could pull off such a feat," he added, trying to insert as much levity into his words, anything to bring back that momentary spark of happiness.

Slowly, he could see it start to work, but it wasn't enough. Not yet. "Actually, now that I'm thinking about it. I should probably teach some type of master class on it. Maybe start my own journeymen practice. You know, something like 'the Great Uzumaki's Pranking Expertise, all the laughs without the punishment'. I'm sure it'd be a hit!"

He smirked as the crinkle returned, another smile suppressed. Another laugh ready to bubble up to the surface. 'Good,' Naruto thought as he turned away, gaze shifting out to the small river running a short distance away. Hinata-hime seemed lighter, better than she had when he'd first arrived. Not perfect, not filled with that complete unburdening that would wipe away any dark cloud, but it was something.

And that was beyond good because he knew how heavy some burdens could be. How just the act of sharing it with one person could lessen the load. And just as Hinata-hime had helped him with his – acknowledging the monster that lived within him as if it didn't change who he was – he wanted to share her burden. Offer the same safety she gave him with just her presence constantly beside him, protecting him from the terrifying glow of red eyes haunting his dreams.

Naruto pulled his hand away from his stomach. Now was not the time to dwell on his own personal monster. Hinata-hime needed him to be strong. Beside him, Hinata-hime moved forward, sure steps taking her up to the water's edge as it rushed on in front of them both. Sometimes he felt like she was like that river. Always moving. Its strength never wading. But then, that comparison felt wrong somehow. Because Hinata-hime was never shaped and swayed by others. She didn't beat against those beneath her until they conformed.

Naruto frowned as he shifted his gaze to the sky above. The sun's rays filtering through the trees. 'No, Hinata-hime is like the moon,' he thought with a smile. She was radiant like the moon, gently swaying the world around her. Commanding and regal, but she wasn't perfect. Just like the moon, when you bothered to look close enough you could see those small imperfections. Naruto just wasn't sure anyone had bother, but _he_ would change that. He would make sure she knew _he_ saw her.

Nodding briefly to himself as if to reaffirm the thought, Naruto joined her at the water's edge. Yeah, he would change that. He would be there for her like she'd been there for him. She'd accepted him without thought, she'd needed no persuasion. He'd never known he needed that, until she'd given it to him. Now, he wanted to give it back. Show her that he was here. Even if it was just like this, silently standing next to her so that she knew he was here. Because he was. _Always_. Here for _her_. And nothing would change that. Because he wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

The silence was…

Unexpected. Pleasant even, but certainly something she had not expected from the likes of Uzumaki-kun. After all, he was pure energy. Vibrant and active and always in motion. And this silence was…

It was the stillness of open waters, lakes confined and left to rest. This was not the Uzumaki-kun she thought she knew.

But in some ways it was. Each slow, measured breath the sharp focus of a boy that could do incredible feats with only ink and bits of paper. It was like the beginnings of a meditative trance although Hinata greatly doubted that Uzumaki-kun had the temperament to sink into a full meditative state. This was something close. Soothing with the easy rise and fall of his chest. Each soft drag slowly displacing the air around them. It was…

"I can see why you come here," Uzumaki-kun spoke, interrupting her thoughts as he broke the silence. "It's calming, nice." Uzumaki-kun let the sentiment hang in the air, the space between them filling once more with the sounds of the forest undisturbed by mankind. They stayed like that for the span of over a dozen slow breaths, the constant slow draw interrupted once again by Uzumaki-kun's abrupt statements. "I'm leaving tomorrow."

Her curiosity peaked, Hinata shifted slightly in her spot against a towering tree of the forest, silently asking for more on this new development.

"Oh, it's some big mission with Ero-sannin," Uzumaki-kun began, easily reading the question in her stance. "We're going to find the next Hokage, some slug mistress or whatever," he continued with an offhanded wave clearly not impressed with the mission perimeters despite its high profile nature. A smile itched to crawl across her face. After all, _that_ was definitely the character of her friend. In fact, she would not have been surprised to learn that he'd not paid all that much attention to his mission objectives.

"Anyway, I wasn't actually paying all that much attention when the pervert was telling me about it," he added, easily confirming Hinata's assumptions. The smile tugged at her features once more as she continued to listen to the boy's antics. "You know, I'm pretty sure Ero-sannin is just sore about his book research, if you can even call what he writes literature," Uzumaki-kun stated, the exasperation clear in his voice.

The comment reminded her of the last few times her friend had mentioned the legendary Sannin. Never in a positive light. Never more than a few offhanded comments. But that was Uzumaki-kun. A boy not easily impressed by titles and accolades. Sometimes, Hinata wondered if he even knew he should be impressed by such things. Certainly the ease at which he interacted with her was a result of that disregard for titles.

"Really I was doing the world a _favor_. No one needs that pervert running around spreading that crap to the masses. Someone could be writing _real_ stories. You know of _substance_. Something like _our_ grand adventures. And yeah, I know we haven't really had that many yet, but we _will_. And that will be something _everyone_ will want to read. But no one seems to see this my way. Not even Jiji. So now I'm stuck as his servant, or _student_ as he likes to tell other people if you believe those lies."

Another smile fought at the corners of her lips as a warmth surged beneath her chest at the comment, Uzumaki-kun's unique brand of humor a welcome distraction. His unique thought pattern, the chaotic path of his thoughts and reasoning, was more than enough to shift her focus. It was strange how such words spoken with such candor affected her so, but he made her want to smile. He made her want to let go and _laugh._

And perhaps it was his own smile, radiant and contagious, felt even without the aid of her eyes. His happiness, his unfiltered joy was like a tactile heat, filling the air around him so all felt its touch. And perhaps it was something different altogether. Something she couldn't name even as she struggled to put words to the emotion. Maybe it was…

"Anyway, Jiji really wants me to go. Even promised me all I could eat ramen with a friend. That is, if you're not busy," he continued, his excitement radiating off of him like the heat of the sun. That excitement leaked into his next few words as he chattered on nonsensical topics meant solely to fill the air. He was distracting her. Taking her mind away from the reality of the day with an ease she hadn't realized was possible until this moment.

But of course, she shouldn't have been surprised. This was what he did. He cared despite not really knowing her. Or perhaps he knew her better than anyone else. Perhaps that was what it meant to be best friends. Sole confidants. Shared shoulders to bare the weight of the world. Either way, she appreciated it. Welcomed the distraction for however long it could last because it would be her only escape for the day. Her only escape until Uzumaki-kun came bounding back into her life once more.

Eventually, his chatter petered out leaving them in silence once more. The hum of the forest leaving them in a comfortable tranquility that was only broken when Uzumaki-kun deemed it appropriate.

"You know," he began, an unfamiliar hesitation coloring the sound of his voice. "If you ever want to talk to me about it, I'm here. I…" The sentence hung in the air, unfinished in a way she'd never associated with Uzumaki-kun. Not when the boy seemed to always know what to say. How to brighten a dreary, blackened day with only a handful of words. Speechless. At a loss for words was not the Uzumaki-kun she knew.

"I won't pretend to know how you feel. How it feels to lose a dad, but if I ever lost Jiji…" His voice waivered at the thought, weak and broken in such an unfamiliar way until he finally turned to face her, steel in his voice as he continued, "I'm _here_."

The sentiment was clear. She didn't have to face this alone. A promise to always be there for her. To share the weight as unbearable, as _insurmountable_ , as it seemed. But it wasn't enough. It _couldn't_ be enough. Not when this was a path she _had_ to walk alone ever concerned with the image that would stare back at her if she didn't. If she failed in the one task, the _only_ task she'd been given.

These were responsibilities that only _she_ could do. Only _she_ had the power to accomplish. And _that_ was what kept her up at night, what ate at her in the quiet hours as she lay alone in the darkness. Worry and fear and a chill that refused to leave warred against her, a constant reminder of her inadequacy. Because as much as she wanted to believe, she couldn't help but remember the time when no one believed. When the voices whispered words of failure and discontent. When weakness colored her every action and only the guiding hand of a man that was no longer here had helped her back to the path she was destined to walk.

'What if…' The question rung through her head on an endless spiral as she turned away from the rushing water, her sightless gaze landing on the one person that would not hesitate to tell her the truth, even if she didn't want to hear it. "What if it wasn't enough time?" she questioned softly, far softer than she'd intended. 'What if I'm not ready? What if I'm not _strong_ enough? What if I'll never _be_ strong enough?' she continued silently, hoping that Uzumaki-kun would understand even without the words. She was only so much, only so strong. And everything, her _everything_ , had been spent working to this one goal, but this was still too _soon_. Too…

"But you _are_ ready! You've got this, Hinata-hime. You're strong and smart and more than ready to protect your clan. Heck, you're the strongest person I know. You're so far ahead of everyone. Even me. You've already mastered your craft. While I've got a long way to go. You're…"

"No, Uzumaki-kun," Hinata interrupted, unwilling to allow her friend to continue to discount his considerable skills. "You _are_ the Seal Master of Konoha."

For a moment, her words hung in the air undisturbed. The weight of them sinking into her best friend's stance as he shifted nervously beside her. "Ah well, I've got faith in you too," he replied warmly, a hand moving to run across his chest. "Which is why I _know_ you're ready for this," he continued, the hard, definitive steel of his voice a comfort that showed his unrelenting conviction. "It might be hard, and you'll miss him, but you're _ready_. You're the Princess of Konoha. You were _destined_ for this!"

This time it was Uzumaki-kun who allowed the weight of his words to sink in, for her to absorb everything that he was offering. The confidence, unwavering, that he had in _her._ It was…

"And hey," he added, interrupting her thoughts with a mischievous tint to his voice. "If you're ever feeling really low, just remember master pranking rule number one," he continued, pausing briefly as he made sure he had her complete attention. "Never give up." Silence filled the air as the words danced around them. It was _so_ like Uzumaki-kun. The simplicity of it all. Everything, every challenge, every doubt and hesitation boiled down to one simple saying. One drive that pushed him even if she doubted it could do the same for her.

But she wanted to believe in the simplicity of his world. She wanted...

"It's what gets me through the day and I'm sure it'll help you too. That is, until you can see and remember what _I_ already know. Because you're going to _rock_ this!" She could feel his grin widen even further as the air shifted, molding around the double fist pump he delivered as he practically leapt into the air in his excitement. A smile tinted at the edge of her lips as his words filled her.

Hinata turned away from her friend as she contemplated his mantra. There was a truth to his words. Something that she wished ardently she could _believe_. Because she hoped that Uzumaki-kun was correct. Hoped that she really _could_ do this. Hoped that she _was_ ready even if she felt anything but.

Turning on her heels, Hinata headed back towards the center of the Compound unsurprised when Uzumaki-kun fell into step beside her, finally ready to face what lay ahead. Silently, they walked. Each step bringing her back to reality. Each step bringing her that much closer to her destiny.

Slowly, the sounds of the Compound marketplace filtered through the silence growing louder with every step until they both stopped just outside of the familiar hustle and bustle.

"I better go," Uzumaki-kun began, the air shifting around him as he nodded his head in the opposite direction. "It's probably a bad idea to get caught around here like this," he continued, his hand shifting the air further as it swept down to point at his outfit, a disguise she assumed given the familiar yet unfamiliar pattern of the wind through his cloths.

With a short nod in acknowledgement, Hinata listened as he turned to leave. "But don't worry," he added, the statement spoken from over his shoulders. "I'll see you around."

Hinata stood there a moment longer. Her thoughts circling around the one person that seemed to really see _her._ Because he did. She couldn't really question that any longer. Not when with just a few words she felt better, a confidence in herself that she'd never felt before. And that was in part because of him. Because he was. He was…

The most unusual individual she'd ever met. He was scatterbrained, boastful and an unapologetic prankster, but he was also warm and inviting. And he always saw her for who she really was. And for that, she hoped she wouldn't have to let him go. Hoped his voice wouldn't end up just another memory floating in the wind.


	2. A Complicated Situation

**AN:** The official start to book two, part one, the land of fire. As you might have guessed, this will center around Hinata. That doesn't mean Naruto isn't just as important. Just that… well, you'll figure it out. For now, we will be updating three chapters a week (starting next week). So except updates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on tumblr unless something special happens and you get an additional update. For fanfiction dot net, expect all three to be uploaded at once Saturday or Sunday (probably mostly Sunday as BR13 is extra lazy, and I've got no control over the fanfiction site). Once the first arc has been posted, there should be a short wait (two to four weeks) before the next arc will be posted in the same fashion. If you want to tease yourself, you can go to our tumblr page and see the chapter titles for the first arc. Enjoy.

Otou-sama – Father, formal

Ji-sama – Uncle, formal

Hai – yes

Haori – Outer jacket for a kimono

Sou desu ne? – Is that so?

* * *

 _ **Part One: Land of Fire**_

 **Arc – Transition of Power**

 _Chapter One – A Complicated Situation_

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

 _Beep. Beep…_

"Shut that infernal noise _off_ ," the Raikage growled, ripping at the cords in his arms as he tossed the beeping machines across the room. His body ached as he moved, gaze sweeping across the space as he tried to remember why he was here.

'The burns,' he thought suddenly, a thick hand coming up to run across previously charred skin. What was once boiled and bubbled blistering pus filled wounds was now smooth skin, drawn taut across his muscular body. It ached and itched in its newness, but that didn't matter. No what mattered was what he'd heard the last time he'd been conscious. Only rumors at the time, but now… Now he would know the truth.

In one quick motion, he was on his feet, the room spinning momentarily but he regained his balance quickly, and soon he was striding purposefully from the room. He had to know. And he had to know now, _damn_ his injuries. In two quick strides, he was in the long winding corridor, the fabric of his haori clutched within his hands as he plucked it from its spot hanging by the door. His stitches pulled as he brought the silken material over bare shoulders, a pain that he ignored. There were _far_ more important things for him to attend to, and pain certainly wasn't anywhere on that list.

Voices floated down the corridor growing louder with each step. Slowly, recognition filled him and anger flooded his veins. 'How _dare_ they?' he thought as he turned down the last corner, muscles bulging as he burst into his main conference room.

"A-sama!" "Raikage-sama!" The chorus of surprised remarks filled the space as he strode further into the room, pain ignored as he glared down his advisors who _dared_ to meet without him. The _insolence_. He would deal with them later.

"You should be resting, my lord. You are not…"

"I am not _what?_ " the Raikage roared, interrupting his advisor mid-sentence." _I_ am the heart of this village. _My_ body its strength. _My_ will is law. _Rest_? Rest is for the feeble and I require none of it."

A-sama took his seat with a flourish, body twisting without care, pulling roughly at his stitches in a show of strength. One of the freshly closed wounds popped back open, the red hot blood seeping into the pristine color of his haori, but he ignored it. The pain insignificant.

The room fell into an agitated quiet. Killer Bee silent for a change, tucked away into the corner of the room while his advisors cowered before him, sharing shaky hesitant looks that spoke volumes. The Raikage ignored them too, his mind focused on one singular piece of information, his need for answers superseding all else.

"Tell me," he demanded, fists clenched beneath the surface of the conference table. "Tell me the rumors are true," he continued. "Tell me that Hyuuga is _dead_. His body left lifeless. That _clan_ left helpless. That nuisance eliminated. Tell me I am _not_ _**wrong**_!"

This time the silence lasted only moments, the span of half a dozen heartbeats as his words soaked in, filtering through whatever bullshit they'd deemed important enough to meet without him.

"Raikage-sama, you are correct. Hyuuga Hiashi is no longer among the living." The answer floated through the air, drawing his focus away from the man who had said it, his name irrelevant in the face of such information as a grin slowly spread across his features.

Hai. This was far more than he dare hope. Far more than he'd ever imagined walking into their plan. This was…

"Hai, Raikage-sama. The Hyuuga's have been dealt a mighty blow. A blow that they shall surely never recover, at least not in _time_."

A-sama nodded absentmindedly, his attention more on their good news rather than that of their future plans. Plans that had needed this break. Needed a weak and wounded Hyuuga. He was pleased with the news. The once failed invasion, the first step in a much larger scheme for justice was now more than he could have ever dreamed.

"Yeah, oh, yeah, but had you brought me, then you'd have seen, a victory no doubt fit for a king. Yeah, check it," Killer Bee stated, the melodic tint of his voice something he'd come to expect, even welcome.

A-sama waved the idea away. His right hand was too important to risk on a mission like that. That and it hadn't been about simply _winning_ or _losing_. No, this attack was about something _more_. Something he'd been planning for nearly a decade. 'Justice,' he thought before responding. "You know we never planned for that invasion to work. Not with that snake Orochimaru pulling the strings. No, I trust him about as much as I trust a Hyuuga. This was a test. Nothing more, and Konoha _failed_ it."

"Be that as it may, my lord, we are now seen as the aggressors in the international world. Now, we'll have a far more difficult time gaining the needed support from the other three great nations for the next phase of our operation."

With a dismissive wave of his hand, A-sama ignored him. The man just didn't get it. _None_ of them seemed to get it. "The _Hyuuga_ ," he stressed, the word spat from his lips with as much contempt as it deserved. "That's what this has always been about."

"But Raikage-sama, what about…"

 _Crack!_

The Raikage interrupted his advisor with a strike to the table, snapping the wood in half as he snapped his answer. " _ **No!**_ We've seen what we set out to see. Konoha is _weak._ Helpless without the aid of those insufferable Hyuuga. Konoha _will_ fall. They've made their bed siding with those _monsters._ Now, we'll let them _lie_ in it."

No one spoke in the wake of his outburst. The silence of the moment filled only by the throbbing pain of another pulled stitch. To his right, Killer Bee grinned like a fool, his face a mirror image of A-sama's own manic thoughts. Once they had destroyed that infernal clan, Konoha would feel the pain of their inaction. They would finally know what it felt like for the world to abandon them. Then, and only then, would they be _crushed_.

"My lord, the Hyuuga will rally from this loss," one of his advisors finally spoke, hesitant worry marring his voice. "Their heir had a strong showing in the exam. She will surely be promoted."

Again, A-sama dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand, "That is of no consequence. She is but a _Chuunin_. And soon enough, she'll be a _dead_ one."

"Yo, man, yo, we gotta even the score. Gotta knock off a tally on the board to be sure. 'Cause we ain't sending messages, at least not no more, when there's a father with a daughter waitin' at death's door, yo man check it," Killer Bee sung, his statement bringing a grin to A-sama's lips.

"Right you are my friend, we mustn't separate daughters from their fathers," he replied. 'Right you are,' he continued in his thoughts. "400,000 ryo," he added, the grin never leaving his face.

"Hai, Raikage-sama, I'll put out the bounty at once," one of his advisors replied with a bow before turning on his heels and leading the others out of the room.

The Raikage stopped them at the door, his voice ringing clear across the room, "And I want her _head_ this time." 'After all, what's a good killing without an equally good trophy,' he thought as they finally left the room. The Hyuuga would fall and Konoha along with them. And then, Kumo would finally have _justice_.

* * *

"Now onto our next order of business," the Hokage-sama spoke, his voice cutting through the still bickering voices of several clan leaders. A sigh on his lips, the fabric of his ceremonial robes rustled in the tobacco filled air as he shifted in his seat at the head of the room, another long draw from his pipe filling the room with more smoke.

Slowly but surely the room finally quieted. Rowdy, unruly clan leaders finally coming down from the passionate highs that had derailed the conversation thus far. Hinata resisted the urge to sigh as well. Although there was little reason to believe that the room would remain quiet and orderly, the clan leaders surrounding her more than capable of finding some other reason to continue their earlier petty squabbles. For now at least, the silence allowed the Hokage-sama to continue the meeting. For what little progress that was worth.

"As we've previously discussed, finding the next Hokage is of the utmost importance. While all candidates are being considered, Tsunade-san is of course still my top choice for the position. Given that her current whereabouts limit communication, Jiraiya-kun has already left to inform her of her nomination and see her safely back within the village…"

"Bullshit!" Uchiha-san interrupted with a violent strike to the table. "You and I both know you're just wasting our time on this foolhardy mission of yours. That traitor should have been labeled a missing-nin _years_ ago as I've already brought up to this council _countless_ times. Don't think we don't know why she hasn't!"

"Now Fugaku-san…"

"No, don't try to placate me again with your flowery words," he snapped, anger and rage coloring his voice. "Just look at the invasion. Clearly, your _bias_ has gotten out of hand. This is a matter of village _security._ And we _don't_ have time to play more of your _games_."

"Fugaku-san…" Hokage-sama's voice held an edge of warning, the tone clear and strong, a reminder of why he'd been named Hokage in the first place.

"And to add insult to injury, you've recruited that no good _prankster_ into this mess!"

"Oh shove it, Fugaku," Inuzuka-san stated, her seat creaking as she leant further back into the wood. "No one fucking cares."

" _I_ care," Uchiha-san shot back, the heat never leaving his voice. "It's just more blatant _favoritism_ and you know it! Why else let that troublesome brat go on this pointless trip to bring that _defector_ back to the village?!"

"Fugaku!" Hokage-sama interrupted, his voice as hard as steel. "This is the _last_ time you will continue to disrespect this council by bringing the topic of Tsunade-san, my _student_ , as a defector of this village to the floor." There was a short pause as the room quieted, the tension palatable in the silence of the room. "As we've discussed, she is merely on a _village_ sanctioned sabbatical."

"You can fool yourself with that kind of talk all you want old man, but this council, this _village_ , doesn't need to waste valuable resources on a ninja taking an _indefinite_ sabbatical." Venom leaked from his words as he continued, "This village needs a new, _capable_ , Hokage. One that doesn't bother playing these pointless _games_. One that..."

"Really Fugaku, I'd think that you'd be jumping for joy at the prospect of getting Tsunade-san back in the village," Inuzuka-san taunted interrupting the man before he could finish what could only be the beginning of a long and unnecessary rant. Hinata repressed another sigh at the sound of Inuzuka-san's voice, despite the interruption, Hinata knew that little good would come from it. Words geared to incite, words meant to cause more unrest than was already present. It would only add more fuel to the fire. "Then at least your son won't be a _complete_ invalid." She would have preferred the rant.

"My son's lost function in both of his hands protecting _this_ village, what's your son's excuse for being a completely useless sack of bones?"

"Why you…"

" _Enough!_ " the Hokage-sama interrupted before another fight could break out. Unfortunately, Hinata was certain the peace would not last. If the current trend was to continue, then they'd be at it again in under ten minutes. Faster even, if they continued on the topic of the next Hokage. "Now, as I was saying, Tsunade-san is the current top nominee for the next Hokage. Should she…"

"Why continue this farce old man?!" Uchiha-san interrupted, his temper getting the better of him once more. Hinata tightened her expression, using all of her training to keep a frown from marring her features. Few of these ninja seemed to possess any sense of control, their bickering and constant outbursts and _tolerance_ of such behavior was far worse than the untrained children of her clan. "We should be focusing our efforts on finding an actual _viable_ candidate. Someone strong and accomplished. Someone who actually _resides_ within the village. Someone like…"

"No one's fucking voting for you, Fugaku," Inuzuka-san interrupted. "Hell, I doubt anyone on the Ninja Council would even _nominate_ your twisted fucked up ass."

"No one asked for your opinion, bitch," Uchiha-san snapped.

"Oh wow, was that supposed to be an insult? Bitch? Really? You really are an unimaginative idiot aren't you? The pups in the kennel can sling better insults than that! What's wrong? Are you too fucking…"

"Tsume-san!" the Hokage-sama interrupted before she could finish the taunt. He waited a beat for the room to calm back down before continuing, "Now, as I was saying. As is typical, additional nominations should be made within the next several weeks. All viable candidates will be considered by me once Jiraiya-kun returns with or without Tsunade-san. Of course, should my wayward student return with him, she will be my number one choice. Now, as you all know we still have much to cover. So _please_ , not another word on this matter."

"Hokage-sama, if I may?" Aburame-san questioned, waiting patiently to be addressed. The air stirred as the Hokage-sama gave his consent with a short nod. "We have yet to discuss our plans for the Sand Siblings. Surely, we do not plan to keep them hostage indefinitely."

"Ah, thank you Shibi-san for bring this topic up," the Hokage-sama began, his tone light no doubt due to his request being followed for once. "While in normal cases we might hold them indefinitely, given the circumstances of Suna's involvement in the failed invasion attempt, the elder's council and I have decided that we will negotiate their release. As we speak, a missive is on its way to Suna with a request to send their negotiator. I expect they will send one of their honorable elders given their current lack of leadership."

Hinata nodded internally at the statement, mentally cataloguing every new piece of information she'd been briefed on, in a far more efficient manner than this, about Suna's current political climate. Hyuuga trade representatives had already noted the shift in focus. The Suna council members were desperate to reclaim the royal heirs. So desperate in fact, that given a skilled enough negotiator, Konoha would walk away far stronger in their relationship with Suna then they'd been in decades.

The thought brought her no joy, as she knew her advice would undoubtable go overlooked. Here was a chance for the Hyuuga Clan to help secure a better relationship with one of the five great ninja villages, but she held only a small hope that the _questionable_ members of Hokage-sama's advisory council would choose an appropriate arbiter. This _powerlessness_ was becoming all too familiar.

'Otou-sama would have…' Hinata paused to mentally dislodge the thought from her mind. Her father wasn't _here_. He couldn't advise or assist or monitor her every action like he'd done her entire life. She couldn't lean on the same tools he'd employed. She wasn't that _strong,_ that _influential_. She was _alone._ Left here with the weight of the world's strongest clan on her shoulders with her hands virtually tied behind her back. She was not her father and she doubted that she'd ever be. Doubted that she'd ever amount to the same greatness, wield the same finesse as he had. She just didn't possess the same leverage, couldn't wield the same respect. As it was, her position on the Ninja Council was _ceremonial_ at best. A courtesy to the memory of the man whose seat she now held. No, her presence here went _ignored_ while they discussed the issues of the village.

As such Hinata was under no impression that her suggestions, no matter the merit, would be taken seriously. Which was why she didn't bother even remotely entertaining the idea of providing the Hokage-sama with a list of possible arbitrators for the impending negotiation. She knew without a doubt that anything _she_ provided would be completely disregarded without thought or consideration. Just one of her latest battles that she had no hope of winning.

Still, there was a small voice at the back of her mind urging her not to give in. 'Never give up,' Hinata thought the words sounding more like the voice she missed then her own familiar thoughts. 'Perhaps there is still some measure that would persuade the Hokage. Maybe a list provided by Ji-sama will be more readily received,' she thought as the conversation continued around her.

Like all of the previous conversations of the past few hours, it was more unimportant infighting than any words of substance. Mostly Inuzuka-san and Uchiha-san going back and forth with vitriol as the rest of the room watched until finally the Hokage-sama decided to regain control of the room.

It was unprofessional, their arguments _unnecessary_. A complete waste of what little time she possessed. And quite frankly, Hinata found herself in completely unfamiliar territory with the emotion she fought to control. She was _annoyed_.

Irritated with these experienced _leaders_. Ignored while they bickered needlessly about the same topics ad nauseam. This meeting was nothing more than an exercise in her control. One in which she felt she was nearly failing in a way that would have appalled the man who had spent so much time training such failings _out_ of her.

She was _weak_.

Hinata closed her eyes briefly to center herself. Stamping down on the urge to snap at the _leaders_ within the room, she forced her mind to think of other, more productive things. Exploring every alternative theory and approach that she could conceive that would benefit her clan and her village. One struck her as she tuned out the arguments beginning around her once more. If she sent her ideas through her uncle, the Hokage might be far more likely to seriously consider them. But what was the best course of action?

Seeking an escape from the infighting that plagued the ninja council, Hinata focused on what she could do for each problem presented instead of what was available to her now. Focused on all that needed her attention while the _adults_ circled around the same concepts again and again. She was not helpless, could not _be_ helpless in this situation. Not when so many depended on her.

She had to believe that. Desperately wanted to believe in the simple words of a boy with a heart far larger than she ever thought possible. How could she fail here, when Uzumaki-kun believed in _her._ Believed in her even when she struggled to believe in herself.

'Uzumaki-kun,' Hinata thought absentmindedly, her friend's absence from the village felt even as Uchiha-san continued his rant over Suna's betrayal. She ignored the man as his points were invalid, extreme and would result in little more than alienating the still struggling nation where they should be strengthening ties. Hopefully, the Hokage-sama would not take his suggestions seriously.

Instead she focused on the boy who seemed to affect her seemingly without effort. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she thought of how Uzumaki-kun would react to these meetings. 'I doubt he'd manage to stay past the Hokage-sama's opening statements,' she thought as the man in question finally stepped in to stop Uchiha-san's rant.

"Thank you for your concern, Fugaku-san. You are aware of the proper way to submit them to the elder's council. Now, where were we?"

"Sir, the injury report," Nara-san replied, his voice groggy as if he'd just awoken from a doze.

"Sou desu ne…"

"Hokage-sama, I'd like to remind you that…"

'The Uchiha Clan has lost hundreds of its members due to the collapse of the Chuunin Exams' Stadium,' Hinata thought echoing the man's words verbatim. She let the rest of his rant drone on in the background of her thoughts, unconcerned that she'd miss some vital point in his argument. After all, he'd opened with those exact same words nearly as soon as they'd begun the meeting and he'd gone to great lengths to utter them again at every possible opportunity with only slight deviations.

He was… persistent if nothing else in his desire to receive some form of compensation for his Clan's losses.

"…so clearly, reparations are not only _deserved_ but _required_. My Clan has…"

"Oh will you just stuff it already," Inuzuka-san interrupted, her tone brash as she leant back in her seat, a soft thump indicating that she'd gone so far as to rest her feet against the table top.

"Why you…"

"Actually, Fugaku-san, Tsume-san does have a point," Nara-san interjected, for once keeping the conversation from veering too far out of control.

"And what might _that_ be?!" Uchiha-san snapped, his attention shifting focus to the laid back shinobi seated next to the Hokage-sama.

"Well, technically, your clan didn't even lose the most people."

"Ah, yes, thank you Shikaku-kun for reminding us all once again that the honored Hyuuga Clan was levied with far heavier losses," the Hokage-sama added, nodding briefly at the man in question before momentarily shifting his gaze to her. She felt the weight of his gaze as easily as if the thick folds of her blindfold had lifted for the moment. Left extremely uncomfortable for what it meant, she had to forcibly keep herself from moving. His mention of her clan. The honorific thrown out so casually as if her presence was to be respected. He was humoring her, _again_. And the feeling of uselessness crept beneath her skin like the invasive itch of the Aburame kikaichuu.

"But those losses were to be expected," Uchiha-san continued, not to be dismissed so easily. "After all, it is their duty to _sacrifice_ for the village."

A sigh threatened to escape her at the beginning of his argument, a pounding ache just beginning to form in her head. They'd been here before. Comparing losses like children comparing bruises. Trivializing the dead, _her_ dead. _Her_ people buried beneath the rubble, crushed in their forced slumber. _Her_ people dead at the village gates, bodies mutilated in death. _Her_ people, dark clad bodies littering the streets for what would have been days if not for Uzumaki-kun's unwavering support with wave after unending wave of clones.

It made her sick that Uchiha-san wanted to play politics with the dead. Stacking up the Uchiha Clan's meager losses in comparison as if the broken Hyuuga body meant nothing. As if _her_ people meant nothing and she could do nothing to make him see this one truth.

It left her with an anger that itched beneath her fingertips. She wanted to snap at him. To forcibly remind him that while the Hyuuga served the village, sacrificed without hesitation, it did not make their lives less valued, less _important_. It did not make them _expendable_. And that emotion was just as dangerous as the rest that whirled beneath the surface. Her own inadequacies in the face of a forced hand because she had _no_ room to stand. No room to complain and force the Uchiha to see a reason she doubted he'd seen in decades.

She held her tongue knowing that an outburst, _any_ outburst no matter how tame and well-coordinated, would be seen as a tantrum from a child unfit to lead. She would look as weak as she felt. A quality that shouldn't even exist within her slight frame. Another sign that she was as unfit to lead as they all believed. And _that_ was something she could ill afford.

"Forgive me, Fugaku-san, but I must remind you that comparing civilian losses, as I assume that is what you mean to imply, does not validate your argument," Aburame-san replied, his voice calculated and even, familiar like the steady cadence of her teammate. While she could not count the man as one of her supporters, it helped to know that he was still a friend to the Hyuuga Clan. Helped to know that her father's legacy had not been completely erased by her own shortcomings. "After all, as has been reported numerous times, the Hyuuga civilian population had the most casualties."

"But you're forgetting that they had more to lose!" Uchiha-san snapped. A frown itched at the corner of her lips. This was decidedly a new tactic. One that would be just as easily dismantled, but new nonetheless. Hopefully, this would be the last one he could managed during this particular meeting. "If you remember correctly, the Hyuuga had far more allotted seats, an oversight of blatant favoritism I'm _sure_ , than any other clan. So of course their casualty list was longer, but when we consider the percentage of attendees, it's clear that the _Uchiha_ were hit far worse!"

"While that may be true, Fugaku-san, we cannot gauge losses on percentages," the Hokage-sama replied, pausing only a second before continuing with his thought. "As I'm sure you're aware, if we re-calculated the clan losses, I'm certain that neither the Hyuuga _nor_ the Uchiha would have the highest casualty percentage. As I will remind you, Fugaku-san, there are more than two clans within Konoha."

Silence filled the space while Uchiha-san sulked, his hunched figure easy to decipher as he sunk further into his seat. Finally, after another charged silent heartbeat, Nara-san coughed awkwardly into his hand, drawing the focus to him as he spoke, "Anyway, despite the unfortunately high losses, all visiting dignitaries and officials were evacuated in time."

"Oh, so now you're trying to tell me to bite my tongue because all of the _important_ individuals were saved," Uchiha-san snapped, slamming both hands into the surface of the table. "My civilians are _dead_! Shopkeepers and respectable business owners, some of which have no sons to take over their family businesses! Half of our shops, our _livelihood_ will have to be sold, put on the market because we've lost so many men, both young _and_ old, to that damned stadium collapse!"

"Fugaku-san, I know you're upset, but I'm sure the Akimichi won't mind helping out. Right, Chouza-kun?" the Hokage-sama stated.

"Of course, Hokage-sama. We'd be happy to negotiate joint ventures and buy outs."

"I won't _hear_ of it!" Uchiha-san yelled, venom coating his every word. "You fat pigs have already encroached too far into _our_ district. We won't have more of your _filth_ setting up shop in our streets."

"I'd watch your tongue, Fugaku," Yamanaka-san threatened, speaking for the first time in the hours that they'd been here. "Just because your lot can't run a decent restaurant doesn't mean you can take it out on those that _can_."

"Oh, that's some big talk for a man with nothing to his name! What was it again _your_ lot owned?" Uchiha-san shot back. Hinata's hand twitched as she resisted the urge to rub at her temples. Her headache was only growing worse and apparently none of the responsible, battle tested _adults_ seemed to be acting their age. She doubted her father would have just sat here quietly while they wasted his time on this nonsense. It was just one more failure to place on the ever piling stack. If only…

The room seemed to still as if holding its breath, waiting for something and not for the first time, Hinata wondered what that was. Then like all the times before it, chaos ensued. Voices shouted obscenities and petty nonsense as nearly everyone seemed to be at each other's throats. Inuzuka-san and Uchiha-san especially taking this time to scream insults at each other.

Hinata took back her earlier thought. They were _worse_ than children. Uncontrollable and entitled and _justified_ in their outrage. Too blinded by petty infighting to see clearly.

Hinata paused at the irony of that thought. How she, the only one in the room without sight, was also the only one who could _see_ reason. Even Uzumaki-kun, the boy so full of passion and energy that he never truly seemed to slow down, would have the good sense to remain professional, at least somewhat, in a meeting. And here she was, surrounded by village leaders, clan heads every one of them, and they couldn't even manage ten minutes without collapsing into an argument. It was... disheartening to say the least.

" _Enough!"_ the Hokage-sama finally stepped in, silencing the room with one word. "Now, while I'm sure there are some misgivings around the room. Once the Akimichi have shifted their focus away from the village repair, I'm sure they along with the Uchiha can come to some kind of financial agreement that will satisfy both parties. Now," the Hokage-sama continued before Uchiha-san could speak up to continue his protest. "If there are no more grievances, then we can adjourn this meeting."

Hinata nearly sighed in relief at the statement more than ready to have this meeting ended. After all, they'd gone over everything. Three times in most cases. There was nothing more to discuss.

"Actually, I'm glad you mentioned further _grievances_ as I have several," Uchiha-san began, the very sound of his voice grating at Hinata's nerves. "However, I will only mention the one. The Chuunin _promotions_ ," Uchiha-san practically spat the word as he spoke, clearly unhappy with the first three times they'd gone over that particular subject.

"What could you possibly have offense to now you arrogant ass?" Inuzuka-san questioned, her tone as exasperated as Hinata felt.

"I just feel that you were too hasty, too _liberal_ with your promotions, Hokage-sama," Uchiha-san continued, pointedly ignoring the Inuzuka matriarch. "Really, I don't see why _anyone_ needed to be promoted after that performance. Certainly, neither that no good prankster Uzumaki nor the Koushi deserved their promotions. And really, Nara's boy was just as undeserving."

Hinata ignored the blatant show of disrespect from the man. He was arrogant, conniving, but he had no real power. Out of all the things she had to worry about, his petty words and insults were at the bottom of the list. That said, she still planned to monitor his activity closely, just as she suspected that her father had done. Despite her compounding failings, she could do this task without hesitation.

"Come now, Fugaku, each one of those kids deserved their promotions and you know it. Fuck, Uzumaki even managed to win the entire tournament so as much as you don't like the boy, you really can't say he didn't deserve _his_ promotion," Inuzuka-san stated.

"I agree," the Hokage-sama added. "Each of our new Chuunin showed great promise and aptitude for great leadership. That was why I issued the promotions." Uchiha-san grumbled silently to himself, but did not move to further interject. "Now onto our last order of business. The Daimyo has requested that the Koushi-san lead his escort team back to the Capital. So, per his request, I will be sending the Koushi-san and the young Nara-san to lead his escort mission as their first official Chuunin mission. While I will be going over the specifics with the two later, I just wanted to remind everyone here that this is the _best_ opportunity to secure his full support for the upcoming conflict. I don't want a war, but unless A-sama changes his mind that is likely where this is all heading."

"Really, Hokage-sama, do you think it is wise to trust such an important mission to someone so _inexperienced_?" Uchiha-san questioned.

"Oh the contrary, I can think of no one more qualified for the task."

At that Hinata actually did frown, the small pull at the corner of her lips darkening her expression. She wanted to trust the Hokage. Wanted to put her faith in the man just as her father clearly had, but her gut pulled at her, twisting uncomfortably as the man shifted his gaze to land heavily on her. It felt like a betrayal of the one man whose opinion had meant _everything_ to her, just another place to show her inadequacies, but she couldn't turn away from her instincts. Especially not when she knew for a fact that was a lie.

There were, in fact, a number of her clansmen that came to mind within the span of a second who were far more appropriate for a mission of this nature. No, the Hokage-sama wanted something. Even if she didn't know what just yet, she knew that much to be weary, to be cautious in her interactions with the man. Because if there was one thing she'd learned in her relatively short existence, it was that there was only one person on this Earth that had pure motives. And he'd left the village days ago.

* * *

'No, I've changed my mind. That particular cluster of clouds looks more like a small herd of deer than the Hokage's Mountain,' Shikamaru thought as his gaze continued to trace the white whimsical outlines of the clouds lacing the sky. The sun was bright, but not blindingly so. Just enough to light the sky a brilliant blue, the perfect backdrop to the white clouds above his head.

It was warm for a winter afternoon, but then again it _was_ rapidly approaching the spring months. 'A perfect day for cloud watching,' he thought as a light breeze floated through the loose edges of his hair. 'A wonderfully perfect lazy…'

"Get back to work you lazy bastard before I actually give you a reason to laze about!" Ino yelled, the annoying piercing tone of her voice ripping him from his blissful fantasy as she threatened him.

Shikamaru sighed, grumbling under his breath as he dragged another piece of rubble away from the ruined shop. They'd been at it _all_ day, nearly all _week_ , nonstop and he couldn't even manage a few quiet moments to _daydream_. What was the world coming to?

"Anyway, like I was saying, I just can't believe all of these stores are just going to be laying here empty. I mean, what's the point in clearing them out and fixing them up if they aren't going to be used?" Ino continued, her attention returned to the pink haired girl standing across from her.

"Oh, well, they don't have to remain empty," Choji replied as he lugged another collapsed section out of the way.

"What do you mean?" Sakura-san asked, pausing briefly in her debris collection. Shikamaru's gaze narrowed, glaring at his teammate as she failed to yell at _her_ for slacking off. He couldn't even so much as look off into the distance for longer than a second before his teammate berated _him_. But here Sakura-san was resting on her laurels, and Ino still hadn't said anything. In fact, he was sure if Sakura-san wanted to stop for tea, Ino wouldn't be bothered because clearly, it was fine if Sakura-san got to relax even if _he_ should have been the one relaxing.

"Well, it's just, this is the Uchiha District," Choji continued, bring Shikamaru's thoughts back to the topic at hand.

'Hmm, I thought this street looked familiar,' Shikamaru thought, his gaze shifting to where he _thought_ his best friend's uncle had his shop. 'Guess this all really does make sense.'

"Yeah Choji, you're going to have to say a little more than that if you want to get your point across," Ino stated, while she managed to keep her voice calm, Shikamaru knew her well enough to know she was seconds away from snapping, her irritation a near palpable thing.

"It's just that the Uchiha shops, at least the ones in the village, are owned and operated by men. So given their civilian losses from the attack, they probably don't have enough capable men to inherit," Choji trailed off with a shrug.

"Those misogynous pigs!" Ino growled. "Why I never…"

Shikamaru tuned out the rest of his teammate's angry rant as he continued to pick at the rubble. A sigh on his lips, he had better things to do than to riffle through the wreckage of buildings likely to remain unused. That was, unless the Akimichi Clan swooped in to buy the property. An occurrence that he wouldn't put past the business savvy bunch, that was, if they had enough capital.

He sighed again as he glanced up from his work, staring wistfully at a distant hillside. It was one of his favorite napping spots outside of the Nara Clan lands, and he'd give just about anything to be there, arms tucked beneath his head as he gazed lazily up at the beautiful sky. Or better yet, eyes closed as he dozed atop the hill, sun warming his face as he…

"Didn't I already tell you to get your head out of the clouds?! Get back to work, you lazy bum!" Ino yelled, once again interrupting his descent into the wonderful world of daydreams, his body instinctually dodging the piece of rubble thrown his way.

'Damn, I should have let that hit me,' Shikamaru thought, eyeing the stone with envy. A concussion would have been a perfect reason to rest, relaxing while he _healed_. And given the fact that he'd yet to find a single moment to just relax, slow down and take a much deserved nap since the thankfully failed invasion, he could have used that miniature reprieve.

Sighing, Shikamaru gazed back at his work, his section of the rubble significantly more crowded than his friends. If only Naruto and his clones were here. "This would go by faster with the blond troublemaker," he mumbled shifting through the rubble with a tired pull to his shoulders.

"Oh, I think I saw some of his clones by the Stadium," Choji stated, clearly having heard Shikamaru's grumbling complaints. "I think they're almost done with that so maybe they'll head this way to help."

"Yeah, I wouldn't count on that one," Sakura-san stated with a slight chuckle and a small shake of her head.

"What's that's supposed to mean? I thought you said that knucklehead could be _helpful_ ," Ino questioned as she violently tossed half a broken wall out of the way. The loud crash meters away had Shikamaru repressing a shiver, mentally reminding himself to stay off her shit list. His eyes watched her for a moment more as he remembered Choji discussing their teammate spending obviously _way_ too much time with the Interrogation Unit. Somehow, he doubted their familial connection would save him from her wrath. If he was lucky, it _might_ get him at least one step down from brutal maiming.

'On the positive side, it could probably get me a fairly _long_ medical leave,' he thought, flinching slightly at the dark look Sakura-san shot the unfortunately fuming blonde.

"Hey, I may not like him all the time, but that's _my_ knucklehead teammate you're talking about. Calm down," Sakura-san stated, giving Ino a minute to do as she was told. Without looking down, she destroyed a disturbingly large piece of rubble with one hit, the feat going completely unnoticed as she continued on with clearing her section.

'On that note, I should also remember not to get on _her_ shit list either. A life of average wonder will be far easier to achieve if I'm not sipping my meals from a straw for the rest of my life.'

"Anyway, as I was saying, Naruto and his clones are great at getting a lot of things done, but they _are_ still Naruto and he has probably the worst attention span I've ever seen," Sakura-san explained. "I mean, this is the same guy who got distracted for two _hours_ contemplating the unusual coloring of a local bird which is strange in itself given that I don't know where he gets the time to bird watch, but that's beside the point. The point is that if it moves, glows or flashes pretty colors then it will distract him."

"A shame," Shikamaru grumbled, his gaze narrowing into a glare. He thought back to that thrown rock he'd foolishly dodged, shifting his glare away from the still piled rubble that he swore was actually _growing_ , down to his unfortunately still capable hands wondering if he could rectify that problem with a convenient _accident_. If he could break a few bones in his hands by a few _fallen_ rocks, then he could be relaxing in a hospital bed next to Sasuke-san in under an hour.

'Well, maybe I can avoid getting saddled with Sasuke-san for a hospital roommate. The moody, brooding cloud that usually follows him around is sure to kill any relaxing atmosphere,' he thought. 'Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, it's probably best if I can get an empty room I don't have to share because knowing my luck, I'll probably be saddled with someone like Rock Lee.' Shikamaru shivered at that thought remembering what little interaction he'd already had with the older boy. No one should have to endure a fate like that. Hell, he thought being forced to spend an _hour_ in the boy's presence was cruel and unusual punishment. 'Maybe I could…'

'Kuso!' Shikamaru cursed as he thoughtlessly dodged a chunk of rubble that threatened to smash his face in.

"I thought I told you to get to work!"

Shikamaru glared at his teammate as he shifted through the rubble, grumbling once more about his better than average reflexes. If only he'd seen it coming, then he could have strategically placed his body just so to avoid permanent maiming, but still suffer severe injury.

"Anyway, like I was saying before this lazy fucker tried to get out of helping, we've got two weeks of vacation time and _I_ plan to spend it at the Capital. The hustle and bustle of a real market district and all those exotic foods, now _that's_ the place to be, right Choji?"

"Yeah sure, the Fire Capital restaurants are some of the best in all of Fire Nation," Choji replied happily, the sound only forcing a sigh from Shikamaru's lips. Sure, _they_ could have a great time, but _he_ was stuck being a responsible _Chuunin_ with summons to see the Hokage following all this. A summons that he was sure would be some mission ready to rob him of his hard earned and much needed off time.

"While the Capital might be nice, I still want to visit Haku-kun. He and Inari-kun had to practically rush back after the area was secure following the attack and that idiot Naruto hogged every last minute of his visit here! Really, if Naruto wasn't already gone, I'd hit him so hard he'd _wish_ he had several towns of distance between us."

"Could you hit me? Then at least I wouldn't be stuck here," Shikamaru mumbled under his breath, annoyed with his situation.

"Oh, shut up!" Ino snapped, having heard at least part of his mumbled statement. "You're a Chuunin, deal with the responsibility!"

"Fine," Shikamaru grumbled, shoulders slumped in defeat as he shifted his focus. "Hey, Sakura-san, you've been helping out at the hospital haven't you?"

"Yeah, I've covered a few shifts here and there, they needed volunteers. And it's not like there's much else I can do with Sasuke relegated to bed rest and Naruto doing who knows what outside of the village." She obliterated another piece of cement before turning to him in question, "Why? You thinking about helping out too?" There was some skepticism in her voice which he didn't fault her for, after all, he wasn't known for looking for _more_ work to do.

"Help? No, I just wanted to know how Tenten-san was doing," Shikamaru continued, starting to regret bringing it up given the looks Sakura-san and Ino were giving him. He didn't have enough free time to find his friend, and the rumor mill had only managed to inform him that she was somehow still alive. He was curious. It didn't have to mean anything. It certainly didn't mean he was looking to volunteer his nonexistent free time. He didn't need the stress of _more_ work in his life.

"Well, the last time I checked on her, she was recovering nicely. Of course she'll be out for at least another week, but the worst of her chakra exhaustion has passed," Sakura-san answered easily, clearing a large section of a ruined building in the process.

A small smile crept across his features as he nodded once in acknowledgement. That was good to know, now he didn't feel half as guilty as before for how envious he'd gotten when he'd first heard about her chakra exhaustion. After all, his own case of chakra exhaustion had been mild. Of course, that hadn't stopped him from trying to milk it for every minute of relaxation it was worth not that it amounted to much.

'Curse my incredible ability to ration my chakra properly,' he thought with a soft sigh as he remembered the paltry hour he'd been given in his emergency hospital bed before he'd been kicked out of it so someone 'actually injured' could use it. Honestly, he really was too damned lazy to be a ninja.

"And of course you've probably heard, but Neji-san was released the other day. Although, I doubt he'll be leaving the village anytime soon," Sakura-san continued.

"Speak of the devil," Ino stated, her attention shifted to the left begrudgingly drawing Shikamaru's gaze as well. There hobbling with one crutch, a plaster cast covering his right foot all the way up to the bottom of his knee, was Neji-san making his way towards them.

"Ah, Haruno-san there you are," Neji-san spoke without a greeting. Somehow, even hobbling on one leg, he still managed to maintain his stiff Hyuuga posture, an extraordinary feat to say the least.

"Hey Neji-san, what can I help you with?" Sakura-san replied easily, not batting an eye at the rather ridiculous sight he made.

"Gai-sensei requested that I inform you that he is still unavailable for extra training and he unfortunately does not see the situation changing for the next week or so. He sends his apologies and his regards."

"Okay, thanks for the heads up. You can tell Gai-sensei not to worry about it. I'll just stop by after I get back from my leave."

With a sharp nod, Neji-san turned stiffly on his crutch and hobbled nobly away. Shikamaru grinned widely at the sight. He almost felt guilty for how envious he'd been of Neji-san too. Almost. 'If only the ceiling had collapsed in the other direction,' he thought as he turned an eye back to his work. Curse his amazing luck.

"Hey, I hate to ask, but have you heard anything about…" Choji began only to pause, his sentence hanging open in the air.

"Oh," Sakura-san began. Like the rest of them, no one needed his teammate to finish his sentence for them to know who he was referring to. "Not much, he's staying at the Kennel I think. Tsume-sama thought his recovery would be best there."

"Okay, that's good, that's…" Choji trailed off again, worry clouding his normally joyful features. Silence filled the air as they continued to work, clearing area after area.

'Yeah, I hope it's good,' Shikamaru thought, his mind on his absent friend. 'At least Kiba should have Shino-san with him. Hopefully that will help.' And if not, well, it was already a complicated situation, he was sure it couldn't get much worse.

* * *

'Forty-one, forty-two, forty-three, forty-four,' the young disciple counted his slow deliberate steps never wavering, his gaze never straying from the path before him, eyes angled down at his feet and just the two steps in front of him so that he wouldn't trip. Other than that, he completely ignored his cavernous surroundings. Curiosity, after all, could get you killed. At least he assumed that was what had killed the last acolyte to walk this path. Here one day, then gone the next, having never returned from this perilous walk.

And sure, the rumors surrounding the previous disciple were numerous and varying in the other boy's fate, but he was no fool. No, he knew his fellow acolyte was no longer among the living. And he was going to make sure that didn't happen to him.

'Fifty-five, fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight' he continued. It was just a little further. The ever watchful Father had told him seventy paces. Seventy endless steps, through darkness, the only light a warm glow in the distance that he refused to look at because the path was straight ahead. Straight ahead with no deviations. Surely, that would keep him alive.

'Sixty-six, sixty-seven, sixty-eight, sixty-nine,'

"Seventy," he whispered in the darkness as he took his last step.

"My faithful servant," a deep voice boomed ripping through the quiet of the cave. It came from everywhere and nowhere. Engulfing the young disciple with only a handful of words. He felt the divine like he'd never felt it before. Powerful and all consuming. He fell to his knees. Head pressed to the cold ground below, he tried to stop his body from shaking, tried to hold off the trimmers that threatened with every second in the Great Father's presence. A low chuckle followed. Clearly he had not been successful. "Have the preparations commenced?"

"H-hai, Great Father," the young acolyte stumbled over his words, head pressed further into the cold stone. He dare not look up, dared not risk offense of the almighty father before him.

"Good." The voice rumbled against the cave walls surrounding them, ominous in its singularity. " _Very_ good. The time grows closer. I _feel_ him. His spirit calls to me. Soon. So _soon_. We mustn't waste a moment."

The young acolyte shook slightly, regret filling his veins. He'd believed, still believed in the one Truth, but fear coursed through him regardless, almost instinctively, and he was filled with doubt for the first time in his service to the one true order. He was…

Another low chuckle, sharper in its intensity erupted from the Great Father, and the fear coursing through the young disciple's veins rushed to the forefront. His heart raced, blood sliding down his face as he pressed his forehead even harder into the ground, past the point of pain, past the point of sense.

"Fear not," the deep voice rumbled, its effect the opposite of the command given. "His greatness _will_ walk this Earth again for his pale light is the only beacon through the darkness."

"And his Truth is our Truth. The only Truth, the one Truth," the young acolyte responded, the words slipping from his lips with a practiced ease that required no thought, no effort. "And this is our Truth," he finished, mind blank of everything but the fear.

"Hai, boy," the voice rumbled as a cold hand snaked across the acolyte's face. Cold, hard fingers gripped softly at his chin, forcing the boy's gaze up with seemingly little effort despite how hard the disciple fought against the pull. Unable to look away, the darkness gave way to cold eyes. Endlessly black, they stared soullessly back at him, "And this is _your_ Truth."

Pain raced through his veins as crooked fingers covered his face. And in the distance he could hear a blood curling scream. It grew louder with every passing second. The pain growing until all else faded but the memory of dead eyes in the darkness. And then there was nothing.

* * *

 **KJ's Culture Corner** Presence… Nothing, because I didn't see anything that needed explaining. A good start, no? But if you forgot, here's a couple of short notes on:

Koushi, Yotsugi, Reishi: The many titles of the Hyuuga Heir, Hinata.

Ryu conversion: At the moment, 102.334 yen is equivalent to 1 american dollar.* (Of course this fluctuations so…)

Honorifics: Sama, dono, san, chan, kun.


	3. Spymaster's Apprentice, Part One

**AN:** Sorry all, these chapters were suppose to go up last night, but we were away (long drive) and I didn't manage. For future reference, the updates will be every Sunday. Enjoy.

* * *

 **AN** : Sup boys and girls (and you rare non-binary out there), here's the next chapter. Below is a list of japanese words to help improve your reading comprehension. As always, we own nothing.

Sensei - teacher

Gaki - brat

Matte, matte ne - wait, wait…

Nani - what?

Yatta - exclamation

* * *

 _ **Arc – Transition of Power**_

 _Chapter Two – A Spy Master's Apprentice, Part 1_

Jiraiya squinted into the distance, the bright sun only mildly distracting as he continued forward with only the 'clop, clop, clop' of his clogged feet filling the silence. As he travelled deeper into the outskirts of the Land of Fire, Jiraiya cherished this rare moment of quiet as he glanced back down at his notes. Finally, he could hear himself _think_ , his reluctant travelling companion currently lost in his own thoughts.

'Naruto-kun,' he thought, his gaze briefly lifting from the coded words before him. 'My… _godson_.' Even in his thoughts he had trouble saying the word, trouble carrying the weight of the responsibility that came with it. And it wasn't because he didn't like the boy. No, the truth was far from that. Even now, without the boy's normally lively chatter, Jiraiya felt a surge of warmth for the boy. A warmth and fondness that only seemed to grow with time because truthfully, Naruto-kun was something else.

'Sensei's briefings hadn't done the boy justice,' he continued, his thoughts on the few words his Sensei had used to describe the blond throughout the years. 'But then, maybe there are no words that can do Naruto-kun justice,' he finished, a small smile tugging at the edge of his lips. The boy was an _experience_ that was for sure. 'Your parents would have been proud,' he thought somberly before returning his focus to his notes.

Guilt crept at the edge of his consciousness as he re-read the same line for the third time. 'No, stop. Don't do this to yourself,' he commanded, gaze once again lifting to watch the boy walking beside him. 'He's happy. He's safe. And he turned out far better without me looking after him,' he thought pushing back the wave of shame. There wasn't time for him to indulge in his guilt now. Wallowing would do nothing but dampen the mood. There was, after all, nothing that could change the past. 'No matter how much I wish that wasn't true,' he thought bitterly, his mind on the plethora of things he would change, if only it were possible, his prior treatment of Naruto-kun among them.

Not that it mattered now, anyway. Shaking his head, he tried to turn his attention back to his notes. Him, guardian material? He was _barely_ Sensei material. Just barely. And given his previous track record, he was being _generous_ with that assessment. Minato-kun really should have known better than to try to pass him that kind of responsibility.

' _Godfather,_ ' he thought with a scoff. He could barely take care of _himself_ let alone a _newborn_. And then, when the boy had gotten older, Jiraiya had been too busy with his ever growing spy network. He'd been away from the village nearly as much as Tsunade in all honesty. And that just wasn't a life for a child. He couldn't… It wasn't…

Jiraiya sighed at the familiar excuse as his gaze found Naruto-kun once more. He'd been telling himself the same _lie_ for the last thirteen years. But time hadn't changed the truth. He'd been a _coward._ A wreck with his last student gone, his last friends within the village dead or just _gone_. Being near the kid then had just been too _painful_. Like picking at an open wound over and over again.

Of course being near the kid now, told him a different story. Just _maybe_ this bundle of energy could have helped him. Could have healed those open wounds faster. And just _maybe,_ his godson wouldn't have had to make the best out of a bad situation all by himself. Sure maybe the kid still would have been a right terror, but Jiraiya could have lived with that.

He could just see Kushina-chan's face now, smiling at her boy's mischief. 'I think you would have had a hernia, Minato-kun,' he thought with a laugh, remembering how high strung his student had been, at least, _before_ Kushina-chan. Nostalgia colored his vision as he thought, wishing, as he often did, that the young didn't always have to die so soon.

'But that's all going to change,' Jiraiya thought as he pushed onward with renewed vigor. It didn't matter anymore what he'd done, or hadn't done in the past. All that mattered was that he was here _now._ No more excuses. Naruto-kun wasn't a baby anymore, he wasn't still struggling his way through the Academy. He wasn't even a _Genin_ anymore. No, Naruto-kun was blazing through life, and if Jiraiya wanted to be apart of it, then he had to act _now_.

And little Naruto-kun didn't seem to know how to do things small either. 'Marrying the _Hyuuga_ heir?' Jiraiya shook his head at the thought. Who would have guessed Minato-kun's son would have such high aspirations? 'The kid has a better chance of marrying one of the Fire Daimyo's daughters. Shit becoming Hokage as a _Chuunin_ would be easier'. Which was saying something because Jiraiya was almost positive at least one of the Fire Daimyo's daughters was already married and no one had ever become Hokage as only a Chuunin.

'Heck, I'm sure the kid has better luck with joining a monastery, renouncing all things ninja related, and maintaining all of those silly vows than marrying the Hyuuga heir,' Jiraiya thought with a small laugh. Trying and failing to imagine Naruto-kun quietly performing a cleansing ritual. The kid never did anything quietly. 'Well, almost never,' Jiraiya thought as he cast a suspicious gaze at his student.

'Any minute now,' he thought, waiting patiently for the silence to be interrupted. Surely there was at least one question on the blond's mind. 'Nothing,' Jiraiya thought with a frown. 'Now that's downright eerie,' he continued as the silence persisted. This was the first time since he'd properly met the kid that he'd been able to keep his trap shut for longer than a few minutes. Even when the kid was relentlessly focused on fuuinjutsu, the only task he bothered to practice in the Sannin's presence, the blond never stopped talking, always running a constant commentary even if it was just between his clones. 'Shit, he even snores loudly.' Jiraiya's only moments of quiet were the ones away from the blond.

Shaking his head, he turned his focus back onto the kid. For days on the road, Naruto-kun hadn't shut up, asking question after question. Picking Jiraiya's brain on everything fuuinjutsu. _Everything_. From ink compositions to layering techniques, the kid soaked up fuuinjutsu like a sponge, which really wouldn't have been a problem if the boy bothered to ask about _anything_ else.

Hell, Jiraiya would have been happy with just _one_ question unrelated to the sealing art. Just _one_. It didn't even need to be training related. A 'how old are you, or what's your favorite color', just one question not about ink and brush strokes and layering which really shouldn't have been that much to ask for.

'Look at me now,' Jiraiya thought with a roll of his eyes and a frustrated sigh. 'I'm a _legendary_ Sannin turned into a one trick pony. It's a damn waste of my _considerable_ talents.' And the worst part was Jiraiya wasn't entirely sure if the kid just didn't know what a Sannin was or if he really just didn't give two flying fucks.

'Oh well,' he thought as the quiet remained. The kid was clearly still lost in thought. Either he was sifting through countless memories from one of his way too many shadow clones littered around Konoha, or he was thinking about his precious princess. Yeah, the gaki had some balls to have ambitions like that. 'Married to the Princess of Konoha.' Jiraiya shook his head in disbelief. Sure that _best friend_ was just the new youth code for _girlfriend_ , or at the very least it meant that for Naruto-kun.

With a shrug, Jiraiya let the thought go. Sure the silence was slowly creeping him out, but it was quiet. An occurrence more rare than a total eclipse. The least he could do was enjoy it. As it stood, it wouldn't, _couldn't_ , last much longer.

Returning his focus back to his _research_ notes, Jiraiya's gaze ran along a brilliant piece of pose if he did say so himself. And he did. Quite often in fact. Which of course meant that the giggle that followed was completely unavoidable. This bit about a busty blonde and her powerful _chakra reserves_ would go over well he was sure. He giggled again as his mind sunk further into thoughts of just how she could use said chakra reserves next.

His giggle turned into a gentle nod as he continued to read through the page, mind only half present as he occasionally jaunted down a note or two to pursue later. He was of course doing more than just reading the not so innocent lines of his text. No, with each pass of his gaze, he took in more of his carefully crafted intelligence information. Words and phrases alike scratched into the text about buxom women and the powerful, confident, completely irresistible man that they flocked to that when strung together and translated with one of his many ciphers held only the most important, pertinent information ready for the Hokage's eyes only.

Really, he was an absolute genius to have created this craftily information network that allowed his _research_ notes to serve a dual purpose. An absolute genius. Or at least he'd thought so _before_ the gaki had had the gall to destroy them _all_. Jiraiya sighed as he remembered the great loss. Not only would Kenshirou-san never get to plow his mighty sword into Tsuki-chan's forbidden garden, but he'd also lost months of detailed accounts. All rather sensitive information that would take twice as much time to regain as he painstakingly replaced it.

'My beautiful, beautiful Tsuki-chan gone,' he lamented as he remembered the busty brunette fondly. 'Oh, and my spy network,' he added as an afterthought, remembering the rather embarrassing meeting he'd had with his Sensei following the incident. He may have gotten a lackey out of the destruction, but Sensei had been so disappointed, and he hated disappointing the man that was like a father to him.

'Still, I'll make the best of this situation yet,' Jiraiya thought as he took his eyes from his incomplete notes, gaze taking in the gaki beside him. Naruto-kun's potential was probably limitless, Jiraiya had known that with only one look at a handful of files from the kid's considerable rap sheet. If even just a fraction of what was in those few files was true then the boy had the potential to become the _best_ spymaster Konoha or the ninja world had ever seen. After all, it wasn't every day that a _kid_ earned an 'apprehend on sight' order by the Hyuuga Police.

Despite first impressions, the kid was actually a natural at infiltration, information gathering, and just simple observation skills. 'Now if I can just get the kid to _value_ those particular ninja skills,' he thought with a bitter frown. While Jiraiya believed that there was no more honorable skill than the art of the spy, unfortunately the kid just didn't see things the same way. 'There's got to be a way to convince the brat,' he thought, mind sifting through every possible trick he could use because he already knew he couldn't just be straight with the boy. No, Naruto-kun was just too honest of a ninja. Too focused on fuuinjutsu and his Princess to ever listen to him on anything that didn't relate to those topics. If he was going to get the blond to embrace his natural talent for spying, then he'd have to trick him into it. There really was no other way around it.

'And that's not going to be an easy task,' he thought with a sigh. 'Oh well, that's a task for another day,' he continued, mind already focused on the mission at hand. After all, before anything else could move forward, Tsunade-chan had to be found. A task that would be nearly impossible with only the few tattered remains of his notes left.

'And that's not even the worst of it,' he thought with a frown. 'No, the worst of it will be trying to convince her to take a job even _I_ don't want in a village she's sworn to never step foot in again.' So yeah, getting Naruto-kun to use his natural talent for the one true ninja art was going to have to wait. As it was, his godliness only extended to the ladies. For everything else, he was just like any other man putting his pants on one leg at a time. He could only focus on one impossible task at a time.

Glancing back down at his notes, Jiraiya deciphered the hastily put together information he'd managed to gather during their week long search. If his trusted sources were correct, then there'd be some trace of his teammate in a little town not far from their current location. He'd looked up the no name town in advance, noting the few sports bars where gambling, all illegal of course, was held every once in awhile. Surprisingly enough, a lot of money came through the small town during those events.

Jiraiya's instincts were pointing towards an underground operation of some kind, possibly even the one he'd had his eye on for a couple of years now but had disregarded following Gatou's arrest. He'd assumed it had fallen apart without the slimy mogul running it, but apparently that hadn't been the case. A fact for which he was incredibly grateful for simply because underground operations made for the best information spots.

This little dive would be just low key enough to go unnoticed by creditors, but large enough to cover the cash bets of some truly hardcore gambling. Which meant it was the perfect place for someone like Tsunade-chan, at least to cover the bets of the Chuunin Exam Finals. While he didn't expect to find her there, he was sure it would be the best place for a solid lead which was something they'd been lacking for nearly a week now. And hey, with any luck, he'd also be able to find a nice bathhouse, or better yet a hotspring, where he could do the really _important_ research.

As an afterthought, he'd have to remember to get extra copies that weren't on him in case the gaki managed to destroy his notes again. He'd hate to have to start over. After all, Tsuki-chan needed her Koko just as much as he did. And it wasn't like they could write themselves or do themselves for that matter. Or _could_ they?

Giggles escaped him, random spurts of high pitched noise as his thoughts turned to filthier things. Quickly, Jiraiya began to write down some more notes. Tsuki-chan was pleasing herself in front of her busty Koko all while his protagonist, Kenshirou-san, watched accidentally finding himself caught in her closet.

"Hey Ero-sannin." Naruto-kun's voice barely cut through Jiraiya's _detailed_ picturing of the event.

'Oh no, Koko just found Kenshirou-san. But of course she's more than willing to share her precious Tsuki-chan,' he thought with another burst of high pitched giggles.

"Hey, _Ero-sannin!_ Do I have to destroy those too?"

Jiraiya reflexively moved his notes out of the kid's reach glad for his short stature, before turning his eyes to the blond, "How many times have I told you not to call me that _gaki_?" As was becoming a habit, Jiraiya's fist came down on the blond's head only for the kid to pop out of existence before reappearing on his other side. He was actually pretty good at that technique, as annoying as it was to admit it.

"So, I was wondering Ero-sannin," he continued without pause. "Do you think I can start training with weights like Gai-sensei and Lee-kun? I mean everyone goes on and on about how crappy my taijutsu is, so I figured this could be a good way for me to get better at it."

Jiraiya sighed at the question. He'd expect a query like this from the moment he'd met the boy, especially considering how much time he'd spent with the taijutsu specialist in question. After all, it looked interesting and useful, but more importantly it looked _easy_. Like a shortcut to some kind of awe inspiring power even though it was nothing of the sort. Yeah, Jiraiya clearly had his own problems with that type of constant weight training, several good points actually not that any of it would matter to the brat. No, the kid would only be able to see him as the bad guy, taking away an opportunity to quickly gain power no matter how Jiraiya might try to explain it.

Naruto looked up at him expectantly. "Well, what do you think?" he asked again. "I could get really fast training like that, finally be faster than Sasuke and Sakura," he grumbled the last bit more to himself than to the man standing next to him. Jiraiya almost an afterthought even as they walked together, the only two people for kilometers.

Jiraiya sighed again as he eyed that bright, excited look in the boy's eyes. Knowing there wasn't an easy nor nice way to shut the idea down, he didn't bother with being pleasant. "Sure and maybe Kumo will realize that they really like the Hyuuga right around the time the Uchiha decide they're absolutely fine with what little power they have. And while they're at it, maybe the Hyuuga will gain a sense of humor and the Uchiha will become polite, reasonable members of society more than willing to work with the other clans for the betterment of the village."

"Yeah, that sounds reasona… _Hey_ , wait just a minute. While I'm sure that first thing could _totally_ happen, I know for a fact that other stuff is never going to happen."

"That's the point kiddo. We're on a mission. One that requires us to remain incognito for the majority of it. And as much as you might want it to be true, there just ain't no way you can hide a training set of weights well enough," Jiraiya replied flippantly, gaze drifting back to his notes to feign complete disinterest.

The silence that followed stretched out longer than it should have, causing Jiraiya to refocus his attention on the boy next to him, the blond already deep in thought as he contemplated his options. 'No, he couldn't possibly be…' Jiraiya thought, but interrupted himself before he completed the thought. This was _Naruto-kun_ he was thinking about, the same kid that went around in an orange jumpsuit and thought he was _stealthy_. Of course he was thinking about those hideous monstrosities. Yeah, that wasn't happening, not on _his_ watch.

" _No_! You will _not_ go around wearing those _ridiculous_ orange leg warmers. It's an eyesore and it'll make you stand out even more than you already do, which again is the _opposite_ of what the word incognito means."

"Nothing wrong with orange," Naruto-kun muttered under his breath. " _I_ hide just fine," he grumbled louder, clearly trying to be a smart ass.

"Yeah, and I'm sure you're the next great Houdini, but we aren't trying to hide. _We're_ trying to remain _incognito._ Can't have small townspeople who already know everyone getting suspicious because we're walking through town." Jiraiya shifted in his spot, eyeing the blond brat before continuing. "No need to make this harder than it's already going to be," he finished with a slight frown.

"Well, _you're_ a seal master. Why don't you just _make_ me a weight seal or something?" Naruto-kun challenged clearly unwilling to let this go.

'Well doesn't this kid sure know how to pick 'em,' Jiraiya thought with a shake of his head mind already churning through every last hurdle for a seal like that. "Impossible," he muttered under his breath before turning back to the brat sarcasm coating his every word. "Yeah sure, why don't I get right on that? It won't take any time at all creating a dimensional gravity seal. It's not like simulating gravity is all that _hard_. You just have to create a hole in space where a large mass comparable to a _planet_ exists, which on top of all that can be regulated in size to increase and decrease the gravitational force at will. And then somehow have just the gravitational force spill over into this dimension. A cake walk. And you know what? While I'm at it, I'll just negotiate a permanent peace between the five great nations while simultaneously ending all Clan conflicts because, you know, it's just that easy."

Naruto-kun opened his mouth, likely with his own sarcastic reply, but Jiraiya cut him off before he could so much as finish taking a breath, "Matte _matte_ , I just remembered one other _little_ detail. Nothing major really, just the pesky little problem of making sure the seal doesn't affect anything else. Because heaven forbid you're walking down the street and everyone within a four-meter radius is suddenly thrown into your dimensional gravitational pull. Or if I somehow manage to get it small enough so that it's only just centimeters away from your skin, let's just hope no one touches you accidentally, or better yet some unaware insect or animal just so happens to perch on your shoulder and _smash_! Tiny little animal guts _everywhere._ I hate to break it to you kid, but I'm not cleaning up a mess like that," Jiraiya finished with a sharp glare. This kid was something else that was for sure.

"I didn't think it was _that_ bad an idea," he grumbled under his breath, head down and shoulders slumped in defeat.

Confident that the kid wouldn't bring the subject back up for the foreseeable future, Jiraiya patted him on the back in as comforting a gesture as he could manage. Thankfully, the brat was too distracted by his sound logic to realize that his argument didn't hold up to a set of weights across his torso. After all, he hadn't thought of a good argument against that one. Not yet anyway.

"Hey, don't worry so much kid. We'll get you faster the good ol' fashion way."

"Huh?"

A devilish grin spread across Jiraiya's lips as he spied the completely clueless look of his blond companion. Oh, this was _definitely_ going to be fun. "So, you see that tree over there," Jiraiya paused as he pointed to an outcropping of trees barely visible in the distance. Naruto-kun nodded, squinting his eyes as he spotted the aforementioned tree. "Good, now go touch it."

For a moment, the kid did nothing. Just continued to stare confused at the distant tree. "Come on kid, we don't have all day," Jiraiya stated with a small push in that direction. A frown on his still confused face, Naruto-kun moved forward at an easy jog. "Come on now. You'll never get faster if you move that slow," Jiraiya egged on. "Sprint!" And with that the brat sped away kicking up a small dust trail as he went.

Moving at his own leisure pace, Jiraiya focused on the issue of training the kid something that was made especially difficult given the fact that the boy seemed to only listen to him if it was fuuinjutsu related. 'And that's not going to be good enough,' Jiraiya thought as Naruto-kun finally made it back to his side.

Half bent over, the kid barely managed to catch his breath before Jiraiya was forcing him onwards. "Hey, I never said you were done. Go on, same tree and don't stop until you can't feel your legs," he ordered, ignoring the annoyed roll of the kid's eyes as he scowled already running back to the still distant tree. "Hey! You call _that_ running?" Jiraiya taunted, determined to run the gaki into the ground. "I've seen grannies run faster!" Jiraiya ignored the obscene gesture thrown back at him. After all, the taunt had done the trick, pushing the blond to run faster despite the mundanity of the task at hand. A miracle considering who his blond pupil was.

'Now if only I could get him to learn _anything_ other than fuuinjutsu from me as easily as this,' Jiraiya thought, frustration filling his every pore. He'd briefly thought about trying to teach him the rasengan as the technique was one of the flashiest he knew. Surely something that eye catching would peak the boy's interest, but then again nothing but fuuinjutsu seemed to even turn his head so that was probably a no go.

'And it's not as if the kid's all that interested in the Hokages so it's not like I can sell the technique that way,' Jiraiya thought as he eyed the still running boy. "Hey, don't slow down now, we've only just begun!" Jiraiya encouraged, gaze already eyeing the next crop of trees in the distance.

No, there was only one real way to get the kid to do anything and that was to trick him into it. 'Now if only I had a good way to fool him. Maybe pass different things off as chakra training.' Of course training with the Kyuubi's chakra was out, at least until the brat finally managed to access it himself. Really, it was a shame he couldn't just force it out of him, throw him down some chasm and let him figure it out. But knowing the kid's luck, he'd just use that fancy substitution technique of his and poof away from danger. But that was fine. It wasn't like they were in dire straits just yet. There was still more than enough time.

'Still, I must be missing something,' Jiraiya hummed to himself, letting his mind wander as the gaki continued to run back and forth between the trees. Nearly an hour later and no closer to finding the perfect solution, Jiraiya caved. 'Fuck it. I'll wing it,' he thought before calling out to the gaki.

"Alright kid, that's enough running for now. You're going to make my head spin," he said, one hand on the boy's shoulder before he could shoot off again into the distance.

"But I can still do more. I'm not tired yet," Naruto-kun huffed, his breathing coming in quick exhales.

"Yeah, well _I'm_ tired of watching you run. So walk with me for a bit." Nodding once the blond had properly fallen into step with him, Jiraiya reached into his satchel, fingers easily grabbing the piece of chakra paper he'd been saving for just such an occurrence. "Now, put some chakra through this," he commanded, passing the small piece of paper over, mentally praying that the gaki would just do what he asked for once without question. Miracles _could_ happen.

"Whatever," Naruto-kun mumbled before _actually_ doing as he was asked.

Jiraiya watched as the paper easily split in half. 'Wind, figures,' Jiraiya thought with a slight frown. It was the one element that he had almost no jutsu for, at least nothing flashy. 'But that's okay. I can work with this,' he thought as he plucked a leaf from the ground without pausing his stride. The basics of this particular affinity was easy enough to explain.

"Alright, now cut this leaf in half with your chakra," he ordered, hoping he could get two for two in orders today. Unfortunately, he wasn't so lucky.

"And why would I want to do that?" Naruto-kun questioned his suspicions raised. "Last time _I_ checked, you were _supposed_ to be teaching me fuuinjutsu, and this isn't it."

"Yeah, well this is part of that training. Chakra control. You of all people should know how important that is for fuuinjutsu," Jiraiya countered not bothering to look at the boy as they continued walking. After all, it was easier to lie when you didn't have to look someone in the eye.

"I'm calling bullshit, you old pervert. I _know_ chakra control exercises and this isn't one of them. This is chakra _manipulation_ and has no part in improving my fuuinjutsu. Trust me. I checked," the blond replied as he tossed the leaf behind him.

'Shit, he's going to be harder to lie to,' Jiraiya sweat dropped, one hand rubbing at the back of his head as he thought up a better argument. "And what do you think chakra manipulation takes? _Chakra control_." A quick glance down at the boy beside him told him that Naruto-kun had yet to be convinced so he forged on. "Look, chakra manipulation, chakra control, it's the same thing," he said with a wave of his hand. "Either way, you're controlling your chakra, manipulating it to do as you command. This," he paused momentarily to liberate another leaf from the ground. "Is no different."

"I don't care what you say, old man. Chakra manipulation isn't chakra control. _Control_ is internal. You know that feeling of chakra moving through your veins, your seals. Manipulation's not like that. It's all outside the body. More like chakra shaping, which isn't necessary for seal making. So _not_ the same thing. Now, teach me some more advanced sealing techniques, not whatever this is. You're supposed to be helping me become a _Seal Master_ ," Naruto-kun argued heatedly, a fire in his eyes like no other. It was the determination to do whatever it took to become the _best_. That same fire he held whenever he thought or talked about his Princess.

'His Princess,' Jiraiya thought, an idea quickly forming in his mind. 'Yeah, I can _definitely_ use that.'

"You must think you're hot stuff now because you're a Chuunin, huh?" Jiraiya taunted, gaze focused back on the road.

"What? No. That's not what I…"

"Let me break it to you easy kiddo," Jiraiya interrupted, not allowing the brat to finish his thought. He had to keep him off kilter if he wanted this to work. "Chuunin ain't good enough."

"Nani?"

"You heard me. All the fuuinjutsu and taijutsu in the world won't be good enough. Not if you want to keep up with your Princess."

"Hinata-hime? What does she have to do with any of this? You promised to teach me _fuuinjutsu_ if I came with you," Naruto-kun replied, clearly affronted at the insinuation that he wasn't good enough for his Princess.

"No, I promised to get you _stronger_. Do you think your Princess is just going to sit around? That becoming a Chuunin would be good enough for her?"

"Well no, but…"

"Because it won't," Jiraiya interrupted, continuing as if Naruto-kun hadn't said a word. "Not for her. Not with her father's death."

"I _know_ that," he replied, something darker coloring his tone for all of a second before he continued. "That's why I've got to become a _master_. Nothing else will do."

"And that will get you where exactly? _Maybe_ the rank of Special Jounin if politics blow in your favor. Which, let's face it kid, they probably won't. While your Princess is off become a Jounin, because that's what it takes to lead her clan."

"Matte ne? I thought she already was leading her clan," he stated clearly confused. "She certainly _works_ like it," he added under his breath, a grumbled muttering of words that Jiraiya just barely caught.

"You honestly thought a _Chuunin_ could become the head of the _Hyuuga_ _Clan_? Of _any_ clan for that matter?"

"Well, I mean." Naruto paused to scratch his head still very much confused. "Then who's leading…"

Jiraiya stopped him there, interrupting before he could fully form the question. "There something about a regent, or something like that. It's too complicated for me to explain right now. That's not what matters," he stated with a dismissive wave of his hand. 'That and _I_ don't understand it half the time. Hyuuga politics is more complicated than _Konoha_ politics, and I _hate_ Konoha politics,' he thought as he let the kid think on his words.

"So," Naruto-kun began, taking a moment to recollect himself before continuing. "So, she's got to be a Jounin."

"Yeah, and fast." Naruto-kun looked up at him in that moment, as if he suddenly had all the answers. "And you'll be left behind at this rate," he finished with a pointed finger in the kid's direction.

Silence hung in the air between them for a moment before the gaki's tentative voice broke it. "How?" he muttered. "How do I become a Jounin?" he questioned, his voice growing stronger with each word. His eyes burned once more as he stared Jiraiya down, determined to do all it would take.

'And… I've got him!' Jiraiya thought with an internal grin before taking his time to answer. "Well, there are only two ways to do it. The first is a field promotion. You get promoted during or directly following a heated battle where the skills you display mirror that of a Jounin level ninja." Naruto looked up at him in excitement practically bouncing in place. "Which is _never_ going to happen," Jiraiya finished, happy to watch the blond deflate like a balloon.

"And the second option?"

"The Jounin test," Jiraiya replied offhandedly, allowing the silence to fill the space between them once more. He was, after all, a master of the dramatics. And nothing beat a properly placed dramatic pause. Finally, when Jiraiya thought the kid was about to burst from the wait, he continued.

"The test requires you to show mastery of two elements and at least one weapon," he explained evenly a wicked glint entering his eyes as he moved to continue. "Now just how many of those criteria have you already accomplished?" he questioned taking more gleeful pleasure at the kid's downward look of embarrassment than was probably reasonable. " _None_. So…" Jiraiya shoved the spare leaf he'd been holding into the kid's face waiting patiently for the blond to take the hint and take it from him. "Cut this in half with your chakra. It's the first step in training your wind chakra element."

"And what about my fuuinjutsu?" Naruto-kun grumbled gripping the leaf tightly in his grasp. "Am I supposed to just forget about it for _this_?"

"You've got clones kid. Use 'em," he answered easily. "And you know what I'm feeling generous. So for every elemental step you master, I'll teach you an advanced sealing technique. And in the meantime, I'll give you little sealing tasks that will help you improve your fuuinjutsu for battle."

Naruto nodded as he started to form his favorite hand sign, the sight of which reminding Jiraiya of the horde of clones the kid was capable of producing. All of those blonds. Talking. Non-stop. 'No way in hell am I subjecting myself to that kind of punishment,' he thought before hastily continuing. "One more thing kid," he stated, just in time to interrupt the kid's summoning. "You can use only five clones for the fuuinjutsu training."

"What? Why?"

"Because we're _incognito_. I can't have a bunch of your clones running around giving away that we're ninja," Jiraiya lied easily. It didn't matter that the brat was one of the best stealth masters he knew. Hundreds of clones all identical to their creator, yeah totally not going to happen. He valued his sanity too much to let it.

Naruto-kun nearly exploded at the accusation. "My clones are just as good as I am with blending in and going unnoticed. You'll never know they're even there!"

Jiraiya shook his head, although on the inside he was practically dancing. "No, you can't use jutsu for disguise. It'll give the game away."

"We can do that! We've mastered the art of _disguise_!"

And yeah, Jiraiya already knew that, but this was a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone so he faked his disbelief. "Sorry kid. Until you prove you can keep yourself unnoticed. No more than five clones at a time."

"What! Just give me a chance. Five more clones, and I'll have them disguised in town, and no one will even know it."

"No way to prove, unless…" he began drawing out the word. He had the kid, his little spymaster.

"Unless what?"

"You bring back information." Jiraiya paused as if he really had to consider it. "Yeah, you bring back quality information, and if I don't hear about random blonds running around, then we'll talk about adding more clones later." Oh course he was never going to add more clones – his sanity was still his top priority – but the kid didn't need to know that.

"Yatta! We've got this in the bag," Naruto-kun yelled in excitement already summoning his limited allotment of clones without missing a step as they walked.

"But you're still not getting more than ten total kid," Jiraiya added, he didn't want there to be any mistaking how many of those gaki would be running around. He could only take so much after all.

"For now, pervy sage. Just you wait and see what I can do, then I'll be back to dozens of clones helping out like normal."

Jiraiya cringed but managed to keep the smile on his face as he looked down at the boy. 'Yeah, that's never going to happen. But at least making you a spymaster's apprentice isn't as hard as I thought it would be.'


	4. Spymaster's Apprentice, Part Two

**AN:** Yoshi! The story continues. Just a heads up, if you have and questions or comments, send them to tumblr to get a quick (relatively so) response. And now, Japanese words below. As a reminder, we own nothing.

Gaki - brat

Matte ne - Wait…

Gomen/ gomen nasai - sorry/ more formal form of sorry

Irasshaimase - Greeting from shopkeeper/shopworker to guest (upon guest entering)

* * *

 _ **Arc – Transition of Power**_

 _Chapter Three – A Spy Master's Apprentice, Part 2_

"Super awesome fuuinjutsu technique my left butt cheek," Naruto grumbled unhappily, mumbling random words of discontent under his breath as he studied his notes on the summoning contract once more. He didn't care _what_ that pervy sage claimed, _this_ wasn't fuuinjutsu. 'Useful, sure, but not what that pervert promised me,' Naruto thought bitterly, mind on the so called awesomest fuuinjutsu technique the old perv could teach him. Yeah, that was a bunch of lies.

"Note to self, never trust a word that pervert says again," he spoke aloud as he traced the edges of the inked version of the summoning seal with his fingers committing each mark to memory. This, simple as it seemed, was a space-time, dimension crossing seal. While the inked version would do nothing, it let him _see_ the seal in another way. It was amazing how simple this seal was. And why wouldn't it be? When compared to the actual seal written within the summoning contract, it was nothing more than a dimensional link to the more complicated work. Really, it paled in comparison. If only he'd realized he wouldn't get to spend time studying _that_ seal. Damn pervy sage. " _Never_ again _,_ " he added for extra emphasize.

"I suppose you should have seen this one coming, boss man," the clone to his left replied, the offhanded remark making Naruto's eye twitch. He was pretty sure that smartass was clone number seven, but the longer the clones stayed in existence the more they wanted to go by their _chosen_ name. And for the life of him, he just couldn't seem to remember any of their names. So as not to insult him, Naruto didn't address any of the clones by name until one of the other clones did so first because _they_ always seemed to remember correctly. 'Nothing better to do, probably.'

Of course _not_ knowing the clone's chosen name didn't stop Naruto from wanting to throttle him, ending his short existence in the blink of an eye. Which would have been something he'd done without question before, but _unfortunately_ he'd made a promise to the clones to better control his temper. Apparently, they wanted the freedom to be more _honest_ with him without consequences which left him here, respecting their desire to no longer see him as an 'existential threat' or something like that.

'The sacrifices I make for my clones,' Naruto internally sighed. Sacrifices that included indulging them in their existential questioning which he honestly tuned out more often than not. After all, it was either tune it all out or end up with a horrible headache. Obviously, he chose the pain free option. It was just easier that way.

The clone next to him nodded, clone number eight if he remembered correctly, "Ero-sannin is dead set on doing nothing. The lazy bastard should have been born a Nara or something."

Clone #7 nodded his own head in complete agreement, "Still, I wonder what his game is? Doesn't make sense."

"I know man. He _says_ he wants to help us, but then he does crap like _this_. I just don't know what he's playing at. Just what _is_ he up to exactly?"

"Besides drinking and whoring you mean," clone #7 responded evenly, forcing a roll from Naruto's eyes.

"Yeah, besides that," his fellow clone agreed waving a hand in the air dismissively.

With a shake of his head, Naruto focused back on the contract in front of him, leveling it with a critical eye. It was straightforward enough. Nothing in this mirror seal should have been giving them problems, but it was. Or really they were encountering an issue of chakra control which was stupid considering he had excellent control if he did say so himself. And he did. Often.

"We have excellent control," clone #8 continued offhandedly as if reading his creator's mind. "This really shouldn't be giving us _this_ much trouble."

"Tell me about it," clone #7 chipped in with an agreeable nod. There was apparently nothing like clone solidarity to prove a point.

"This is the last time we sign anything in blood, believe it!" clone #8 declared passionately, arm thrust into the air to increase the dramatics.

"Yeah, certainly not without reading it first," clone #7 began before curiously rubbing his chin in thought. "Although, it _does_ make for an interesting lock. You think it's an additional signature like lead amounts?"

"Nah," clone #8 dismissed with a wave of his hand. "No way it's that simple. No, it's got to be _molecular_. Which is just amazing because we didn't even know you could use blood that way. Like, I am _completely_ blown, man. _Blown_ away."

"You and me both, my brother. You and me both," clone #7 responded, shaking his head in equal measures of wonder.

Already familiar with how the conversation would go from here, Naruto tuned the rest of his clones' conversation out. He needed to focus. To concentrate and _think_. Because once he had this down, he'd finally be able to send letters to Haku-chan and Inari-kun without all of the bother of using the Konoha messenger system. He could send letters to Konohamaru too. After all, Naruto was certain he'd love to hear about his awesome adventure.

'And maybe,' he began, hesitant to form the idea even in his own mind. 'Maybe Hinata-hime wouldn't mind a letter or two from her favorite person.' He smiled at the thought. Best friends could send letters to each other. That was a thing. He'd checked and everything. And if she wasn't super busy, she might even send a reply. 'No,' Naruto thought, determined and confident. 'She'll _definitely_ send a reply.' He grinned even wider at the thought. 'In fact, _my_ letters will be the _much_ needed break to her tear inducing, _boring_ day.' And Naruto was sure it was class _A_ boring. Meetings could be nothing less.

"Alright enough chit-chat." The clones quieted, dutifully moving aside to give Naruto enough room to begin the summons. Biting his thumb, he channeled chakra into each hand sign before slamming his right hand into the ground, he watched as the seal emerged next to his ink version as the jutsu activated with a poof of smoke.

 _Croak_!

Sitting at over half a meter in size the toad before him was _clearly_ not Gamakichi. Sighing heavily, Naruto dismissed the toad with a wave.

"Awesome boss man," clone #7 exclaimed, jumping into the air in his excitement.

"Yeah, he was _way_ closer to Gamakichi than the last one," clone #8 added encouragingly.

"We got this in the bag!"

And the clones were right of course. This _was_ a major improvement from the last couple of summons. But really _anything_ was better than tadpoles. Still, he'd wanted to have the technique down already. Shaking his head, he let the Pranking Rules guide him. He was improving that was what was important. In fact, he was sure that at this rate he'd have it down by the end of the day.

Briefly, Naruto glanced over at the three other clones working on their chakra manipulation. A hard look of concentration on all of their faces as they held their own leaf between their fingers, he knew their progress was going just as slowly as his own. 'If only Ero-sannin had let me summon twenty more,' Naruto thought despondently. 'Then we'd be done by now, but no. Ero-sannin's got to have things done a certain way,' he continued with a growing frown. ' _Only five clones per task gaki_ ,' Naruto mocked, mirroring the sound of the pervert's voice in his head. ' _And not for summoning practice, you ought to be able to do that one yourself_. The man's a quack.'

Of course, that still meant that while he had five clones working on his wind chakra. The other five were running around town collecting information proving that he was the master of disguise that he claimed to be. All quite unnecessary he might add.

'It's been nearly a whole day,' Naruto shivered at the reality. It just felt wrong to have any of his clones so far away for any period of time, but a full day. 'Unnatural,' he thought as he shifted his attention back to the task in front of him.

'You would think that the pervert would at least stay to give a little guidance with all the clone restrictions he's laid out,' Naruto pouted, extremely unhappy with the situation. 'But no. I'm stuck here learning the toad summoning jutsu with no more advice than a ' _here brat_ , _don't forget to add chakra'_. Yeah, like I'm about to forget to add _chakra_ of all things from a jutsu,' Naruto grumbled at the thought. "Filthy pervert and his filthy excuses," he mumbled under his breath, remembering the older man's excuse of conducting much needed ' _research'_ for why he couldn't stay longer to help.

" _Get the same toad five times in a row then we'll talk gaki,_ " Naruto mocked, lowering his voice to mimic Jiraiya as his clones giggled in the background. It was great having his clones next to him on this one. Took some of the stress off in fact, but he knew he couldn't keep them here forever. They'd have to get back to their real task of working on his elemental chakra manipulation skills with the others eventually.

'I'll send them back to the leaf exercise after one more try,' he promised shoulders set to try again until a curse from the previously silent group reached his ears. 'Damnit,' Naruto signed as arguments began to erupt from the other group. He'd have to send them back now. "Go help them," he waved his clones away.

"But boss man…"

Naruto interrupted him, "No, I've got this." When they didn't make to leave he continued, "Didn't _you_ just say as much?"

The two clones eyed each other, clearly unhappy with their own words being used against them but eventually moved to the other group anyway. Closing his eyes, he waited for the arguing to end. After a couple of tense seconds, the clones settled. Naruto looked down at his version of the seal once more. It was all about control, and surprisingly, he didn't have enough of it. He really hoped Hinata-hime was faring better than this with her training.

The thought of his best friend succeeding at whatever it was she was probably doing re-energized him, excitement pumping through his veins as he punched the air with a wicked one-two combo that would have made Sakura proud. 'I've got this!' he thought as he tried again, summoning chakra through his body as he went. 'Not too much. Not too little,' he thought as he pushed the required chakra into each hand sign, slamming his fist into the ground and standing back to wait.

"Yo!" Gamakichi greeted. "Long time no see, boss man."

Naruto sweat dropped at the entrance, "I saw you yesterday!"

"Oh yeah. Guess so," the small toad replied as he scratched his head. "Just figured you'd have summoned me again by now is all."

Naruto turned away embarrassed. He _had_ claimed he'd have this technique mastered by the end of the day yesterday. Which hadn't really been an exaggeration if only he'd had more clones to help. As it was, he'd only _just_ given in to taking a couple clones off the wind chakra exercise. So really, it was all understandable, if not a little bit embarrassing. Still, a victory was a victory no matter how small.

Naruto plopped down in front of the little toad who immediately jumped on his shoulder. "So boss man, what did you want?"

"Nothing yet, Ero-sannin said I had to summon you five times in a row before I could ask you to send some letters for me."

The toad nodded sagely. Before a large grin grew on his face, "I suppose we can't have you distracted by your _girlfriend_ just yet now can we?"

"Girlfriend!" Naruto replied, his voice reaching a register he hadn't thought possible in his hysteria. "For that last time, Hinata-hime is my _best friend_. Best. Friend. Which, by the way, is _way_ better than a girlfriend," he defended, arms crossed in offense. He wasn't sure why everyone seemed so confused with the terms.

At that, Gamakichi bounced down to sit in front of him. "Sure…" He held the word out with clear disbelief. "If that's what we're calling it these days."

Exasperated, Naruto didn't bother to correct him this time. Instead, he flopped back onto the ground, gaze turned upward to watch the clouds above. Gamakichi was just as stubborn as the rest of them. Completely missing what was really important about his special relationship with Hinata-hime. After all, it wasn't something as frivolous as girlfriend and boyfriend. No, it was far more meaningful. They were each other's best friend and nothing would change that.

Gamakichi hopped onto his stomach as Naruto lost himself in thought about said best friend. What was she doing now? Sitting in another boring meeting, old people talking her ear off? 'At least she doesn't have to do paperwork. Jiji makes that sound like a nightmare,' Naruto thought gaze tracing the pattern of a particularly interesting cloud. It looked an awful lot like a bowl of ramen, but he couldn't be sure. After all, it _had_ been awhile since he'd last eaten. He could just be hungry.

'It'd be pretty hard for Hinata-hime to read the paperwork anyway, let alone write anything,' he thought before a disturbing realization hit him. 'Matte!' Naruto shot up in worry. How was she going to read his letter if she was still blind? 'Oh no, oh on.'

"Hey!" Gamakichi yelled as he hopped back to Naruto, jumping to his shoulder as he berated him. "You gotta warn a guy before you send him flyin' like that!"

"Gomen, Gamakichi. It's just…" Naruto trailed off in thought. He wasn't going to be able to send a letter to Hinata-hime. But that wasn't the only way to get a message across. "Hey, Gamakichi?"

"Yeah?" the toad replied as he brushed imaginary dust off of himself.

"Are letter's all you can carry?" Gamakichi looked offended at the question so Naruto quickly clarified. "I mean you are a little small."

"Well, I'll have you know I'm stronger than I look. I can carry a whole host of things. Scrolls, letters, I can even do boxes!" He paused for a moment before adding under his breath, "you know, if their reasonably sized of course."

Naruto smiled as an idea came to mind. He'd be able to get a message to Hinata-hime after all. Now he just needed to master this summoning thing. "Good to know. See you in a little bit Gamakichi," Naruto stated excitedly before dismissing the toad.

In the zone, he pulled his chakra to him and began the summoning process again. Only…

 _Croak!_

Sighing heavily, he dismissed the other toad. Great now he'd have to start from scratch, again. 'This might take longer than I thought.' He looked up to see the five clones' heads bent as they concentrated on their leaf. Their job of course wasn't any easier. 'No,' he thought wistfully. 'If I want easy, I should trade places with clone number four in that village they'd been assigned. Now _that_ clone has it easy.'

* * *

Naruto clone number two, or Hansuke as he'd chosen to be called, shelved a new stack of books as part of his cover as help for the local bookstore. Well, really it was the _only_ bookstore in this tiny backwoods town, but that really was a rather insignificant detail in the grand scheme of things. At least that's what he kept telling himself while he tried to studiously ignore the rather nonexistent clientele of his temporary workplace.

He paused for a moment to stare longingly at the cloth door separating him from sweet, sweet freedom, the mesh door having been locked up in the back after opening. 'Boredom,' Hansuke thought. 'That's what my obituary will say I died from,' he finished with a sigh. 'If only…'

"Hey, boy! Get back to work! I don't pay you to stand in front of the shelves like an idiot," a grumpy voice called from the back room.

'Of course, _I_ can't blame anyone for _not_ wanting to set foot in this place,' Hansuke thought as he glared in the crotchety old man's direction before getting back to work. Unsurprisingly, the grouchy owner had trouble keeping any kind of help for any significant amount of time. Which was great for Hansuke as it made it easier to land the job in the first place, but also meant that he'd been subjected to that old man's ill temper for the better part of two days.

Granted, that wouldn't have been so bad if he was doing more than just moving one pile of books to another seemingly random pile of books in a continuous process of rearranging what felt like the _whole_ store _all_ day, _every_ day. 'Actually, I _know_ there isn't any pattern to all this reshuffling,' Hansuke thought bitterly. After all, he'd had _hours_ to work what should have been a relatively simple mathematical problem in his head. 'No, this shop just shifts at the _very_ fickle whim of Hon-sensei,' he continued. ' _I'm_ just the body that pushes the cart.'

'If only Ero-sannin had pointed us in the other direction,' Hansuke thought wistfully, mindlessly slipping each book into the current hours' designated place. 'Then maybe we'd at least have something to do on the off hours.' But small towns meant next to no customers, even fewer interesting book additions to the store and practically no form of entertainment outside of the pages found in the books that he wasn't always allowed to read.

'You know, maybe we _do_ have a good selection of books,' Hansuke thought as he slipped another book onto the shelf in front of him. 'Maybe I just can't tell because Hon-sensei takes inventory and has me practically reorganizing the whole collection every day.' For a moment, Hansuke lost himself in the idea of the ease at which a handful of items can go unnoticed under the right circumstances. Like getting lost in the crowd. As it was, Hansuke doubted anyone but Hon-sensei knew exactly what resided on the premises. It would make it easy to hide almost any item in plain sight that way.

'Matte ne. Could Hon-sensei be…?' Hansuke chanced a quick glance at his ornery employer. The old man didn't _look_ like a smuggler, but of course he didn't always look like a ninja either. 'Whatever,' Hansuke thought with a shrug. He was here for a reason. And it wasn't to catch a grumpy old man and his smuggling ring. At least I don't _think_ that's what I'm here for. Pervy Sensei wasn't all that clear on the mission parameters.'

Hansuke paused in thought, scratching his head as he tried to remember exactly what he was supposed to be doing in this small town. After all, it wasn't just to stack and re-stack old books a hundred times over. 'Damnit! Who gives instructions to find ' _useful information_ ' that's like the vaguest crap I've ever heard,' he huffed in frustration. 'What if… How about… Maybe I should… Ahhh! And now I have a headache,' Hansuke complained with a pout as he tried to refocus on his current job.

'You know what,' he thought after he'd given himself a moment to calm down. 'I'm just going to file this stuff away and let the boss man deal with it.'

Crisis averted, Hansuke got back to the task at hand. 'I really don't know why I thought this job would be awesome,' he thought with a shake of his head moving down the aisle to work on the next section. 'Of course, it wasn't like there'd been a lot of options available in the first place,' he added somewhat bitterly as he remembered the only mildly complicated job sorting technique he and his fellow clones had had to employ to fairly split off.

Of course clone number four, or Fan as he'd chosen to call himself, had gotten the first pick and therefore the best job working at the only tea shop in town. After all, with a number that cursed, it had seemed only fitting that he'd get the most perks. As it was, there wasn't a more interesting assignment than the one that would let them learn more about one of Hinata-hime's interests.

Then clone number one, or Eiichi, had gone next since he was the first clone. A luck of birth, which meant clone number one always got to pick gigs second. He'd chosen the restaurant, a no brainer at the time but Hansuke had his suspicions and while the gig _could_ have been really fun Hansuke doubted that it would be. Certainly not when he had it on good authority that Eiichi would be working in the back of the house. _Maybe_ he'd get to learn a new recipe on his down time, but the majority of his time would be spent washing dishes. Which meant the clone was fated to maintain pruney fingers for the majority of this assignment.

The rest of them had decided on drawing straws after that, well clone number three, Yasahiro – Yasa for short –, and clone number five, Yoshi, had ganged up on him so they could escape their fate of guaranteed shitty jobs. Next time, they ought to just start with drawing straws, even out the playing field or something. Not that he thought it would really mattered in the long run. After all, towns this remote weren't known for their exciting opportunities.

Luckily, the luck gods had been smiling down on him because he'd still gotten the next choice. Out of the three spots remaining, Hansuke had really only two good choices. At the time working at the bookstore had just sounded like the better option to working as an extra hand for the local seamstress.

'Biggest mistake of my life,' Hansuke thought as he shelved another book. If he'd chosen to work with the seamstress, then he'd at least have the colorful conversation of a bunch of old crones gossiping all day. But instead, he was stuck with some old, mostly boring books most of which he couldn't even _touch_.

'Well, at least I didn't get saddled with working at that bar. Nothing like bad lighting, thick smoke clouds and gloomy depressing people to really ruin a day.' That displeasure had gone to Yasa who'd been unfortunate enough to draw the short straw. 'And look on the bright side. At least I've got a killer discount,' he thought with a smile as the door cloth shifted with someone's entrance.

'Great now there's three of us here,' Hansuke thought with a growing smile. 'Although I'm not sure Hon-sensei fiddling somewhere in the back actually counts as a real person.'

"Irasshaimase!" Hansuke called out behind a pile of books. He was paid for good customer service after all.

Not hearing a reply, he continued working, re-shelving the kids' section just as he'd been instructed. Briefly, Hansuke contemplated getting a book for Inari-kun. Haku-chan _had_ complained in his overly polite way about Inari-kun not being interested in his studies which somehow had something to do with him, or well the boss man anyway, even though none of the clones nor the boss man could seem to figure out why. Either way, Haku-chan had been rather insistent as he suggested in that way that wasn't _actually_ a suggestion that they help out by getting Inari-kun more books to read. _Fun_ books to get him interested once more in his studies. As if the books coming from the boss man meant more than the one's Haku-chan got the kid.

Of course when tasked with the request, the clones had all relatively easily come to the same conclusion with the boss man agreeing wholeheartedly with their first choice. After all, algebra one had been a blast. Haku-chan, however, had not been quite so pleased. So, he figured now would be as good a time as any to find another book for Inari-kun. Preferably one that involved less math and more pictures as that seemed to be Haku-chan's chief complaint.

'By now, I'm sure the boss man has mastered that toad summoning jutsu, so it really shouldn't be long before we're ready to send a letter off to Haku-chan and Inari-kun. Fan's even picked up a toy and everything,' Hansuke thought with barely suppressed glee. Of course, they were fairly certain that a toy wouldn't go over so well without at least one book to balance it out.

He was just…

 _Bang!_

In a flash, an entire stack of books collapsed to the ground, the loud clamor of noise startling Hansuke to the point that he nearly jumped out of his skin a process that would have surely cost him his brown wig and by extension his well-crafted disguise. Turning around he found an old man fumbling with a book in hand.

"Gomen nasai, lad. I'm so sorry," the old man stated as his hands stilled around the book in his hands.

Hansuke jumped down from his stool and worked quickly to pick up the newly scattered books. "It's alright Jii-san, I was probably going to move them in a few days anyway," he replied with a laugh, smiling at the old man to put him at ease. With deft hands, he easily moved the books back to the stacking cart as he moved to continue, "You looking for a book for your grandchildren?"

"You could say that," he replied distractedly, the old man's attention chiefly on the book in Hansuke's grip. Hansuke looked down reading the title with a quick glance, _The Sun and the Moon_. "Could I?" the old man asked and Hansuke handed it over without further question.

With a fond gaze, Jii-san gripped the book gently, carefully flipping through the pages as if the book was worth ten times as much as Hansuke knew it was. "Did you own a copy when you were younger?" Hansuke asked curiosity getting the better of him.

"No," the old man smiled kindly as he handed the book back, "But my grandfather would often tell me the story. I'm just surprised to see it here."

"Yeah?" Hansuke questioned, his curiosity further peaked. It didn't look particularly long, so opening the book he read it aloud.

" _A long time ago, the world was dark,"_ he read, the white words standing stark against the pure black pages. Turning the page, he continued.

" _The Father of the Universe didn't like that, so he created the Sun."_ The once black pages gave way to all the colors of the earth as the bright sun filled the sky creating one long panorama of what looked like utter utopia. " _And she gave light to the world."_ Flipping to the next page he continued _._

" _However, when she slept the world was dark once more. So the Father created the Moon to light the sky when she slept."_ Here the pages return to the blackness only for the soft glow of the moon to take up space on the other side.

" _The Sun was overjoyed with her younger brother, taking him everywhere she went."_ And as he said the words, the pages filled back up with the bright vibrant life of utopia only with both the sun and the moon in the sky. " _They became inseparable._ _Never would there be the Sun without the Moon or the Moon without the Sun._ _The world was a happy place."_ Turning the page, Hansuke's fingers glossed over each beautiful picture of a world that looked so happy. It was nice. Something he wished still existed today.

" _One day the Sun couldn't make her annual meeting with the Harvest,_ s _o she sent the Moon in her place."_ The images shifted to the beauty of the forest, a raging river running nearby as the Moon meet with a beautiful woman. He flipped the page.

" _With her awesome powers, the Harvest served a feast by first turning to the river and spitting out a bounty of fish."_ The image turned to a rush of water and fish from the woman's mouth _. "Then turning to the forest, the Harvest spewed forth wild game from her mouth."_ This time the image of deer and boar rushed into the forest, almost galloping from her mouth. " _And finally turning to the rice paddy, the Harvest coughed up boiled rice in plentiful mountains."_ Turning the page, Hansuke saw the plentiful mountains of food waiting to be feasted on. Sure, it was a little gross that it all came from the pretty lady's mouth, but who was he to critique the legend.

Flipping the page, Hansuke continued, " _The Moon was disgusted at being served her vomit, so he killed her_." Startled at the image of the dead woman with a sword still sticking out from her body, Hansuke quickly moved on.

" _The Sun was upset with her brother's act of murder, so she banished the Moon from her sights never to share the same space again_." The book ended with two separate skies. One of the sun, bright but lonely. And one of the moon, dark and sad.

"Well that got dark fast," Hansuke stated as he closed the book, turning his focus back on the old man in front of him.

Jii-san laughed in reply, "Hai. Well, grandfather didn't tell it quite like that."

More than happy to hear how the old man's grandfather told the story, Hansuke pressed the old man for details. As it was, this was likely the most excitement he'd get for the next week, maybe longer. After all, customers almost never actually spoke to him outside of the normal pleasantries.

"So what's different, Jii-san?"

"Oh, well, grandfather used their real names. Amaterasu the goddess of the sun and Tsukuyomi the god of the moon, and the book left out their brother Susanoo the god of storms and the sea."

"Is that all?"

"No, not quite, grandfather also made the story a little more exciting. In his telling, the Sun always forgave the Moon for killing the Harvest, or Ukemochi no kami as grandfather called her. No, in his story the Moon grew jealous of the Sun's glory and betrayed her. And that's why she banished him out of her sight for eternity." The old man paused in his own reflection before continuing, "But I like this telling too."

"I don't know, a story of betrayal sounds _way_ more interesting."

Jii-san laughed again, "Hai, I suppose so. Perhaps that was one of the reasons grandfather told it." At those words, the old man gained a faraway look, lost in his own thoughts for a moment before he spoke again. "But he'd always say the moral of the story was about _family_. Family can forgive an unforgivable sin, but betrayal." He shook his head at that. "There's nothing worse than betraying one's own kin." Nodding his head sagely, the old man finished with a wistful sigh, "It was a story that has always stuck with me."

The old man slipped back into his memories for a moment more before returning to himself. Gradually, he pulled another book from the stack, this one with a ninken on the cover before nodding once to the clone. "But I'm here for this. Have a nice day, lad."

"You too, Jii-san."

Hansuke turned his gaze back to the book still in his hands. _The Sun and the Moon_. It _had_ been an interesting story, although he didn't see how the boss man would be able to use that information. Turning the pages one more time, he nodded to himself, 'This could make a good book for Inari-kun.' Mostly pictures, no equations in sight, how could Haku-chan possible be upset with this?

* * *

 _ **Here comes the clones…**_

Hi all, we hope you enjoyed that. As you've noticed the Naruto clones now have names, so here's a list of what those names mean.

Hansuke - helpful friend

Eiichi - prosperous one

Yasahiro - calm and knowledgeable

Yoshi - silent and quiet

Haru - light, sun, or spring


	5. New Wave

**AN:** Howdy all, here's the last chapter post for the week. We own nothing and unfortunately we didn't have time to add the dictionary. Sorry but we hope you enjoy.

* * *

 _ **Arc – Transition of Power**_

Chapter Four – The New Wave

The slow throbbing was, unfortunately, not a new occurrence. It was the constant pulse of a migraine barely formed yet still threatening to be a force of agony able to rival the combined pain of any wound he'd ever sustained. A feat he'd once thought impossible.

"I've heard a tall tale, Hisakawa-san. Surely it's not true?" Yagami-san spoke, dark hair piled into a messy bun atop his head, a grin on his thin mustache covered lips.

Haku's fingers twitched, aching to rub at his temples as the Council gossiped. Men all much older than him filled with a petty distraction that was until now completely foreign to Haku. Still, he had a task at hand, so he forcibly suppressed the urge as he attempted to refocus. This wasn't impossible. It wasn't like the nearly futile efforts that Zabuza-sama had undertaken in his attempt to realize his dream. No, this he could do.

"No, it's true, I am finally looking for a wife," Hisakawa-san replied straightening his white and blue haori before waving away the looks of disbelief. His dark beady eyes shifted around the room below thick brows and deep wrinkles from a lifetime in the sun, the same look that was shared among the rest of the men at the table.

Eyes closed as he drew in a calming breath, Haku tried not to think about how long this was taking. Instead, he exhaled, gaze refocused as he dragged it across the room, pleading for resolution more than anything else. The willfully oblivious, smiling faces that comprised the entirety of the Council for the Land of Wave stared back at him, none of its members particularly bothered by the length of the present meeting that continued to drag on uselessly.

"Hah, and what respectable young lady is going to want to tie herself to you, old man?" Matsumoto-san smiled around a cup of tea at his own humor. His own thin mustache rubbed against the top of the cup as loose strands of black hair slipped across his features. He was the youngest of the councilmembers, but it made no real difference. After all, they all gossiped just the same.

They continued to chatter amongst themselves cheerily blind to his slowly deteriorating mood. A mood which wished only for this meeting to end and to end with everyone on the same page. Which really shouldn't have been quite this difficult to achieve given the general consensus around the room.

"Yeah, you should just adopt your heir like Ueda-san." Shizuka-san added, wire framed glasses slipping down his crooked nose.

Haku ignored the comment only half listening as he attempted to review the only reason they were still here. Him. Or rather, his opposition to the current agreement, or rather lack thereof, as they continued to negotiate. Unfortunately, he'd been unable to change even one mind within the hour of time they'd spent discussing the issue today. Of course, he shouldn't have been all that surprised given that he'd failed equally in this endeavor in all of his previous attempts.

"Yup, make the whole lot of them compete for it. Solves all our problems." Ueda-san leaned back as his thick fingers found a thin cookie on the table, food and tea having been provided by the Uzumaki Clan. His wide shoulders shook with the beginnings of laughter as the entire council followed his lead, heads thrown back and hands slamming against the table as they laughed at what must have been some sort of inside joke given that Haku found no such humor in the current situation.

'Circles,' Haku thought bitterly. 'We've been going in circles all week. I can't…' he paused, eyes closed as he took another deep breath. He attempted to remember the last time he'd been this close to losing his patience. This close to possibly saying something he would regret, and he could not remember a time.

'Just focus,' he thought, discarding his last line of thought as the young attendant poured him another cup of tea.

'No problem is too massive. No situation too arduous. This isn't even the most vexing task I've ever had to accomplish,' he continued, rousing his spirits with the mental image of Naruto-kun and Inari-kun jumping around the small space of the former's apartment after consuming more than their combined weight in sugary sweets. No that had been a task worthy of sainthood. Surely, everything else was insignificant in comparison.

Haku took a small sip of his tea allowing the warmth of the beverage to further soothe his growing migraine. He'd give this one more attempt. One more try at the reasonable approach before he invoked the take no prisoners mentality of his former master.

With one more calming breath, he regained the attention of the men in front of him. "Honorable Council," he began, interrupting their completely off topic conversation. "If you will allow us to continue?" He waited with the last dredges of his patience for their nod of assent, somehow still managing to keep his exasperation from his voice. "As I've mentioned before neither Naruto-kun, nor I, feel comfortable accepting such a gift from the Land of Wave," he continued, putting special emphasis on the one aspect that he could not allow for what felt like the hundredth time today.

"Of course, Haku-sama. We would never expect you to," Hisakawa-san replied. He sounded amenable to change, however, the wide grin still plastered across his face told another story. Clearly they still didn't seem to get it, still lost in a fantasy of their own creation. His head pounded as his budding migraine grew, his patience on its last leg.

Hisakawa-san exchanged a knowing glance amongst his fellow councilmen, giving a small nod as he moved to continue, "Which is why we hammered out that last arrangement."

"For which, Master Haku, you've already paid in full," Ueda-san stated, the large man giving a nod of his own.

"Settling the matter on all of the land and surrounding water rights for the future Uzumaki Clan holdings," Yagami-san added as he leant back in his spot, a satisfied smirk gracing his lips.

Haku held back a frustrated sigh willing himself to power through the argument one more time, "Respectfully, I disagree." He paused for a moment, searching for his inner peace before continuing in a level voice, "Separating the two property deals was not a means to circumvent this discussion Honorable Council. It was simply a way to expedite the process so that construction on the Uzumaki Clan Compound could commence."

"Of course, of course, Haku-sama. We of the Council understand completely," Hisakawa-san replied, an overly exaggerated wink accompanying the emphasis in his statement. Grinning widely, the head of the Council shifted his gaze to share his knowing gaze with his fellow councilmen before settling back in his seated position.

"We're more than happy to discuss additional compensation," Shizuka-san added pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose all the while giving his own obvious wink to Haku.

"Hai, all payment for the additional property will be accepted at a later date," Matsumoto-san stated with an overly enthused nod and a wink just like his fellow councilmen before him.

Exasperated beyond belief, Haku finally let loose a frustrated sigh as the Council of Wave smiled amongst themselves, each member grinning widely as they nodded to each other. They smiled like they maintained a shared secret, each in on the joke that only they knew. Only this was no laughing matter.

The vein on his forehead pulsed angrily as he finally realized that the Council would never be made to see reason. This meeting, like the previous ones, was just a farce of a proceeding. It was him alone, struggling to even discuss the issue. This was thousands of acres of rice paddies gone to ruin, hundreds of acres of forest unused and uncultivated. All because they refused to acknowledge the financial state of Wave.

And how did it come to this, attempting to force reason on a country's ruling body at his own expense? How was it that he could sit here and even contemplate forcing someone to accept payment of all things? Zabuza-sama was probably laughing at him from his grave, the deep timbre of his voice chuckling as he chastised Haku for his wasted efforts. After all, his former master had always run towards power gaining options, snatching up every opportunity as it presented itself. Zabuza-sama would have taken that land without batting an eye, a smug comment said in confidence once they'd resold it for twice its value.

Even now, Haku could hear him. 'Money is power in this world, Haku. And like all powerful things it's limited. Fools on the other hand are found in droves.' His former master would always pause there, wistful for a moment as he lost himself in his dream before turning back to him. 'So forget about the fools, Haku. Because we're in the business of making money, not reasoning with the unreasonable.'

Of course money had been nearly everything to his former master. The 'key to the gate keeping us from the real battle' as Zabuza-sama had once described it. But that was in a different world. A world where Zabuza-sama's dreams had filled Haku with a singular purpose. A purpose that had commanded his mind, his body, and his very soul. His former master's dream had become his dream. His desires mirrored on the blank canvas that was his existence.

It had been a world where Haku would not have hesitated to exploit these people's pride and naiveté. And in his weaker moments, it was a world that Haku desperately wanted to return to. However, that could never be. Zabuza-sama was dead. His dream buried along with him.

Now, Haku toiled to realize a different dream. One that filled him with a pride he'd never felt under Zabuza-sama's tutelage. So he fought against the Council's self-destruction because Wave could not afford to just give away such a large tract of property. It didn't matter how much they appreciated Naruto-kun for his part in stopping Gatou. This was not the way to show it. Not when the country depended on good leadership. Not if Wave was going to ever truly thrive.

'You will have to forgive me, Zabuza-sama,' Haku thought as he took another deep, calming breath. 'For I cannot heed your words of wisdom.'

He had to do this. Had to strike this deal in such a way that Wave's economy didn't crash in the process. Because they needed Wave. Naruto-kun needed Wave. This was their home. The beginning of something grand. And he would rather disappoint the first person to save him, ask for a forgiveness that he would never have returned for the rest of his life, then fail the one person who took a chance on him when he'd thought he'd been beyond saving. Zabuza-sama would have to understand. He had a promise to keep. To Naruto-kun, to Zabuza-sama, but more importantly to himself.

Gaze hard, Haku prepared himself to be as unyielding as his former master, calling upon the strength of a man more demon than human to make a deal he knew no one would like. But there would be no compromising on this issue. It had to be done.

"Thirty-six million, four hundred thousand." His voice cut through the idle chatter that had started up again in Haku's silence. It's timbre as strong as any statement that had ever left his former master's lips.

"Na…nani ka?" Hisakawa-san stammered, whiskered mustache pulled into a frown of confusion.

"Master Haku, you can't…" Matsumoto-san started before Haku swiftly interrupted, his tone sharp.

"Thirty-six million, four hundred thousand ryo. That is the offer the Uzumaki Clan will make," Haku stated, his voice commanding the quiet of the room even as it remained even, distant from the warmth he normally attempted to infuse it with.

For a moment, no one spoke. The councilmembers mouths left open as they gaped at him. Finally, a member of the council regained his faculties. "But…" Only to be quickly cut off again.

"No. There will be no more discussion on this matter. This is the amount we will pay for the property in question. A paltry sum considering the breadth of the land; however, this is the same rate per acreage as the previous Uzumaki Compound land agreement, so we are willing to make this, and only this, compromise again."

Haku paused, waiting with eyes narrowed for the Council to nod their assent to the agreement. "Good. Now that we are all in agreement we can move on to the finer details of the land usage."

"What?! You can't possibly…"

"Please take the next few days to think about the percentage of villagers you would like guaranteed work opportunities within the Uzumaki Clan rice paddies," Haku continued, silencing Councilman Ueda with a sharp look. "Additionally, the Uzumaki Clan would like to extend a discounted rate per kilogram of rice to the Land of Wave as a thank you for allowing us to reside within your borders."

At the statement the councilmen sputtered ready to complain, so Haku pushed on with the one thing he knew would force their hands, "As you can imagine, Naruto-kun would be most displeased if he were to learn of your refuse of our humble offer."

"No, no. Of course we would never refuse," Hisakawa-san stated, a horrified look clouding his expression. Rapidly his fellow councilmen nodded their agreement, each man sweating nerves bullets at even the suggestion of insulting Naruto-kun.

"Very well, then I believe we are all on the same page," Haku stated as he moved to rise, the council quickly moving to follow his lead.

"Hai," Yagami-san replied. "And Haku-sama? Is it possible that this small, completely insignificant, extremely brief misunderstanding not be brought to Uzumaki-dono's attention?"

Haku moved to the door without speaking, leaving the man, and what he was sure was the rest of the Council, in suspense in the process. "While I will not lie to Naruto-kun, I do believe this was just a small misunderstanding that will not be repeated in the future." He paused for effect, allowing the underlying meaning to sink in before continuing. "As such, I do believe it is a rather insignificant detail for which to interrupt Naruto-kun's training."

Turning to leave, Haku bowed slightly to the Council, "For the betterment of our country, honorable Councilmen."

The Council returned his bow quickly, dipping far lower than ever before. "And please, Haku-sama, do send our most humble regards and congratulations to Uzumaki-dono." Ever attentive, the young attendant slid the door open behind him as he turned to leave, the Council still bent low at the waist. "As always we wish him long life and good fortune."

"Hai, I'll send your regards," Haku replied as he took his leave, the door sliding shut behind him.

His breath left him in a rush, exhaling on a sigh as his shoulders dropped momentarily. Without stopping, Haku continued on his trek across the town more than ready to get back to the easier Uzumaki Clan business. 'That was far more taxing than I anticipated,' he thought as a sudden wave of exhaustion set in. 'This property deal…' he shook his head as he maneuvered about the slowly growing market, new shops having popped up slowly over the few months since the bridge's completion.

'If I could have managed it, I would have sooner dropped the whole deal,' he thought with another powerful sigh. 'Be done with all this in the first property buy, but there's more to worry about here than just the Uzumaki Clan's future success.' He paused, the memory of a desperate Council rushing to the forefront of his mind. For the sake of the small country, the Council had practically begged the Uzumaki Clan to increase the size of their purchase to include the rice paddies they couldn't use, hadn't used, in nearly two generations.

'Wave's future depends on this whether they want to acknowledge it or not. And without Wave,' Haku shook his head again at the thought. 'We'd have no home. No place to call our own. No, the future of the Uzumaki Clan is invariably linked with that of this country. And I will not let either of them fail before they've even had a chance to thrive.'

Of course that meant that now they had thousands of acres of property that they couldn't use just yet. The rice fields were in such a state of disarray that they'd take several hundreds of thousands of additional ryo before they would even be usable, but that was just how it would have to be. 'We do what we must,' he thought as he nodded to the familiar faces that surrounded him. He wasn't surprised in the least at the number of times overly excited townspeople stopped him all wishing to send their bests to Naruto-kun.

After all, it was to be expected. Having adopted the blond as the patron and hero of the town, the townsfolks were still reeling from Naruto-kun's amazing win in the Chuunin Exams. They were just now coming off a week long celebration. Naruto-kun's wins more than qualifying as a feat worthy of such prolonged celebration in the eyes of the town.

In some ways, Haku agreed with the sentiment. After all, Naruto-kun's performance had been awe-inspiring. Near impossible given the competition he'd faced, but Haku had had no doubts in his friend's abilities. He'd even gone so far as to wager his entire life savings in Iruka-san's betting pool which granted was mostly money Naruto-kun had given him to help with his life here in Wave, but that was wholly beside the point. No, the point was that he'd had full confidence in his blond friend and that confidence had paid him back in spades.

And now those winnings had allowed him to purchase not only a fourth of the land in Wave but also a fifth of the surrounding water rights. Technically, while the Uzumaki Clan didn't own the bridge Naruto-kun had spent so much energy to save, they now own all the surrounding waters as well as the corresponding coastline. Although they would never abuse that power, they did now own the sole major trading route currently used within the Land of Wave.

Of course, the majority of the property he just secured was rice paddies and the surrounding forest that had fallen into disuse years ago, but that mattered little in the grand scheme of things. No, as his fallen mentor had taught him, what mattered was that it was land. And property, unlike most people, had infinite capabilities. If managed properly it could last forever. And amenable to near infinite change, it could easily be adapted to any situation or need. But most importantly, given enough time, the land would make its own money which was a prospect of which he was sure his former master would approve.

"Haku-sama! Haku-sama!" a familiar voice called, pulling Haku's attention away from his thoughts.

Turning around, Haku spied a tall, tanned man running towards him. Fisherman shorts and a sleeveless shirt covered the lean form of one of Tazuna-san's building managers. "Ah, Tenzu-san, how may I be of assistance?"

Tenzu-san slid to a halt, bending over to lean his hands against his knees as he caught his breath before speaking. "The boys… were wondering… if you'd let us build… a statue of Lord Uzumaki," Tenzu-san questioned between heavy pants.

More than ready to reject this latest outlandish idea out of hand, Haku was interrupted before he could even open his mouth, "Now hear me out, Master Haku. All the great Lords and Ladies have statues. It's like a, ah, a symbol of like power or something like that. I know, I had little Isamu-chan check with one of the village elders. So, we were thinking that Lord Uzumaki will have to have one too. I mean it is kinda important, and really no problem at all to add while we're building everything else. Plus, Moritaka-senpai is an expert stonesmith and he's already excited to work on a few ideas he's been drawing up since we started. Really, it would be…"

Knowing that he'd have to decline the generous offer, Haku let the man babble for a few more moments. The sentiment was appreciated, but given that Tazuna-san had already refused payment for construction of the compound, Haku could not allow them to build anything else, especially something on the magnitude of a Lord's statue that would be worth hundreds of thousands of ryo, free of charge. Like taking the land the Council had offered, it just wouldn't be right.

"I'm sorry Tenzu-san, but we just don't have the space right now for a statue of Naruto-kun. Perhaps we can revisit the topic once the Compound has been completed and the Uzumaki Clan has had a chance to grow."

"Oh," he replied disheartened. "It was just a thought."

With an internal sigh, Haku conceded a point in an attempt to lift his fallen spirits, "However, I'll run it by Naruto-kun and see how he feels about the idea."

Tenzu-san nodded, a grin slowly creeping back across his face. "Thank you, Master Haku," he said with a bow. "And please, give Lord Uzumaki my best."

"Of course," Haku replied as he watched as Tenzu-san ran off towards the busy marketplace. He was probably on his way to pick up the lunch orders given the time. It was one of the two things Tazuna-san had allowed Haku to pay for. Food and the raw building materials.

And while he didn't agree with the arrangement, he could understand why Tazuna-san didn't want to accept payment. It was the same reason that nearly everyone he saw stopped him, well wishes at the tip of their tongues as they inquired about Naruto-kun's wellbeing. To these people, Naruto-kun wasn't just anybody. He was their hero, their personal savior.

'No,' Haku thought, 'He's so much more than that.' To the people of Wave, Naruto-kun was modern royalty. So of course, they wanted to build a statue for him.

Approaching the water's edge, Haku spotted Sakura-chan and Ino-san still out on the water, arguing again in that playful way he'd come to associate with the pair as they worked. Although he would have been happy with just their company, he was eternally grateful to have their assistance for it made building the Compound well away from the coastline far easier. Already, they were nearly finished with laying the foundation for the main building. Soon, possibly tomorrow, they could begin ferrying the workers over to begin building in earnest. Certainly, the process was far faster than building a bridge that he would inevitably have taken down for security reasons.

In a few short strides, Haku finally reached his tent pitched close to the worksite. He had no idea why Sakura-chan hadn't mentioned the spare rooms back at the Tazuna residence to her companion, but he did not mind a few weeks spent living mostly in nature. As it was, he loved seeing the progress made bit by bit, falling asleep to the sight of the beginnings of the Uzumaki Clan Compound…

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by the loud croak of a boisterous orange toad oddly dressed. "Heya princess, Haku right? Naruto left out how cute you are. Got a boyfriend yet? 'Cause I'm available, if you're interested."

A grin crept across Haku's features at the small toad's forwardness. Kneeling to get to its level to address it, he replied. "I just find it hard to believe that a handsome toad like you doesn't have someone already."

Despite his colorings, the responding blush was obvious, "Well, you know how it is," the little toad stammered.

"Oh," Haku replied softly, his smile fully taking place, "And what can I do for you, kind sir?"

"Ah yeah, well, ah, boss man asked me to give this to you," the toad replied, coming back to himself as he pushed a cloth wrapped bundle nearly as large as he was towards Haku.

With deft hands, Haku unwrapped the haphazardly wrapped bundle carefully removing two letters each marked with Naruto-kun's familiar handwriting, a thin book, and an orange kendama all neatly stacked atop a beautiful kimono.

"Arigatou gozaimasu," Haku replied as he turned back to the book, reading the title aloud. "The Sun and the Moon?" Flipping through the pages, Haku quickly read through the book. 'Oh, Naruto-kun,' he thought with a small sigh. 'At least, you tried, but a picture book is not a proper book for a seven year old.'

"Yeah, I know, I tried to tell the boss man that was a kid's book, but he didn't seem to get it," the toad stated, having caught the slightly disappointed look on Haku's face.

"That's quite alright. I don't imagine he would." Taking the letter addressed to him next he moved to open it. "Do you mind if I read it now?"

"Nah princess," he replied picking his teeth. "I've got all day."

Looking at the unruly handwriting, Haku sighed again. Just another thing they'd have to work on in the future. In the meantime, he'd just have to remember to write all of Naruto-kun's official correspondences for him. That was a pity, seeing as he was starting to receive a number of messages for his blond friend. It would have been nice to off load a few of them.

'Hey Haku-chan, I'm having a blast. At least I would be if it wasn't for that no good, good for absolutely nothing…'

* * *

"Alright, I totally think we've earned a break."

Sakura glanced up, jutsu already half formed to eye her companion. Ino, working with an elemental jutsu that she didn't seem to have an actual affinity for, looked exhausted. Letting her arms drop, she nodded once to her friend, "Yeah, sure thing. It's past time we stop for lunch anyway."

Mischief alight in her eyes, Sakura turned to the coastline. "Last one ashore owes the winner a backrub," she yelled across her shoulder, already running. She laughed at the roar at her back, speeding up even as Ino cursed her existence. This was just too much fun.

The first to the white sand coastline like she'd planned, she turned around just in time for Ino to nearly barrel into her. "Hey!"

" _You_ hey," Ino replied, jabbing a finger into her chest. "That was cheating!"

"Really? I gave you plenty of warning," Sakura replied coyly, stepping past Ino to head towards the small camp further inland.

"Yeah that was completely fair, and Choji can say no to free barbeque," Ino shot back sarcastically, following after her.

"I think you're just mad I won and now you have to give little ol' me a high quality backrub," Sakura teased, slowing just enough to allow Ino to draw even with her.

"If you would've played fair, I would be the one getting that backrub," Ino huffed as they continued on making it to the center of the camp. "I am the one who actually needs it," she continued, grumbling under her breath.

"Hey, Haku," Sakura called out as they passed his open tent, completely ignoring her blonde friend's last comment. He glanced up from his hunched over position, pen raised as he answered what looked like about a half a dozen letters littering the surface of his temporary desk.

"Ah, Sakura-chan, Ino-san, a pleasure as always," he greeted, nodding in their direction. "I do hope you've finally stopping for a much deserved lunch break."

"Yeah, we have," Sakura replied with a smile. "Don't tell my mother, but Tsunami-san makes the best bento box."

"Your secret is safe with me," Haku said with a small grin before turning back to his work.

"Well, I can't say the same," Ino teased, as they finally made it to their own shared tent. "I think I'll need a little convincing to keep that little tidbit to myself."

"What do you want?" Sakura questioned with a roll of her eyes as she grabbed their prepared lunches.

"Well, when you ask so nicely…" Ino said, pausing to bat her eyes. "I think I could conveniently forget if let's say that backrub I owe you went to me."

"Fine," Sakura huffed, pulling back the tent flap for Ino to exit first. "Have it your way. I'm sure I'll win the next race too so no big deal. Now, come on. Let's go eat on the bridge."

They walked silently down the coast, sand slipping into her sandals. Despite the time of year, the sand was warm making the sensation far more pleasant then she would have expected. It was nice.

In the distance, she could easily spot the small island they'd managed to create. Each section created from pillars brought up from the ocean floor. It was just the foundation, but even so, the sight was impressive. In fact the whole country of Wave's transformation was impressive. After all, she'd been here when all of the people had been practically destitute. But now the market buzzed with renewed energy. And sure, it wasn't some bustling metropolis, but it was definitely something.

"That's going to be amazing when it's done," Sakura stated, breaking the silence as she pointed out into the distance. Even without looking over at her, Sakura knew her friend was rolling her steel blue eyes at the comment.

"Yeah, sure, but right now it's barely more than a hunk of dirt, a small hunk of dirt at that," Ino replied, the annoyed tint of her voice clear as day. Sakura grinned at the sound. After all, her annoyance wasn't exactly new. In fact, Sakura had made it one of her main missions to annoy Ino at every opportunity. Which basically meant that her friend had been snippy and snarky their whole trip, a complaint always at the tip of her tongue.

Although she hated to admit it, she rather liked having Ino here and it didn't matter how much she complained about it. Still, it was a shame Choji-kun couldn't come along, but he was off being a good friend so she couldn't fault him for it.

"But think about it for a moment," Sakura argued as they finally reached the edge of the bridge. "Imagine what it will be like to wake up every morning with the sunrise glinting off the still waters." A small merchant's cart passed them as they walked down the bridge. "I would think that you would appreciate that image more than anyone else," she finished, leveling a rather pointed look at her friend.

"Yeah, well, pretty future images don't change what it looks like now," she replied, meeting her gaze unflinchingly. "And don't give me that look," she continued with a narrowed gaze. "Just because I like to get up to see the sunrise doesn't mean I'm not peeved we're sharing a tent on the beach when I should be living it up at the capital."

"Well, I didn't force you to come now did I?" Sakura replied with a grin already knowing she'd won the argument. "And look, at least it's not a ninja travel tent. Our tent is practically a night staying at the Fire Daimyo's palace compared to one of those."

"Yeah, well, tell that to my aching back. You know the one that's sleeping on a very thin bedroll on the ground. Despite the tarp, I still wake up with sand in places I'd rather not have sand, thank you very much."

"Look at it this way. Haku-kun has his own tent so it's just the two of us, giving you a lot more freedom to gossip to your heart's content."

"Sure, but no amount of gossip can make up for the fact that I'm sharing the tent with you."

Sakura laughed lightly at the teasing tone, catching the glint in Ino's eyes as she spoke. "Come on, this is a good spot," she said as she plopped down at the edge of the bridge, feet hanging over the salt water. "Just be glad Naruto's not here. Now that boy can snore."

"Oh come on, he can't be that bad," Ino argued, taking her bento box from Sakura's hands as she sat down beside her.

"Nope, don't even go there. It is literally like an earthquake when he sleeps," Sakura replied with a half laugh, popping the box open in the process. "Honestly, it's so bad that Sasuke and I made him sleep with Kakashi-sensei and even then, Sensei has to put up a noise canceling jutsu on his tent so as not to alert the surrounding area to our location."

"No, that has to be an exaggeration," Ino protested, opening up her own bento box.

Sakura's grin widened as a mischievous thought entered her head. "Okay, well, if you don't believe me then the first time you go on a C rank with Naruto on your team, you can all just share the one tent."

"And risk you being right, not a chance."

Sakura laughed at the swiftness of Ino's reply, pulling her chopsticks out of the pink sleeve Tsunami-san had graciously gifted her.

"Itadakimasu."

They ate in silence for a moment. Looking out at the ocean, the beginnings of the Uzumaki Clan Compound just taking shape.

"Okay, so I admit, it would be kind of awesome," Ino admitted reluctantly, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen. "Romantic really, although I doubt your idiot of a teammate will be able to appreciate it."

Chuckling lightly, Sakura agreed with a small smile as she brought another bite to her lips. "Yeah, you're probably right about that," she stated, gaze glancing away from the ocean expanse to look down the bridge catching the familiar dedication plaque almost immediately. She really should remember to actually read that thing. After all, Naruto had barely said a word about it which was completely at odds with his normal habit of never shutting up. "He's pretty helpless when it comes to anything that isn't seal related," she finished.

The soft sounds of the ocean hitting the shore mixed with the occasional passerby as they walked the bridge filling the space between them once more. It was comforting, soothing in a way that she almost wished her life could always be this simple. Sitting here in a small but slowly growing town with her oldest friend with nothing more to worry about other than how long they would need to spend that afternoon on Compound foundation. 'Of course if it were to stay this way then who would I get to hit on a regular basis,' she thought with a grin, shaking the idea aside.

Seemingly without her permission, her gaze found the plaque again and this time, curiosity got the better of her. Setting down her bento box with one abrupt movement, Sakura stood up from her spot on the bridge startling Ino in the process.

"Hey, just where the hell are you going?" Ino questioned, clearly irritated at being caught off guard.

Already a quarter of the way to the plaque, Sakura pointed at the dedication. "That idiot Naruto actually is a big reason this bridge is here. The main reason this whole town loves him and everyone associated with him really."

"Yeah, and? I guessed that much with you know the huge Uzumaki Clan seal surrounded by whatever that is permanently etched into the center of the bridge," Ino replied as she got up to follow Sakura.

"Oh, that's actually the seal Naruto used to defeat Gatou's thugs. It's not active of course, but the seal used so much energy that the outline lasted a few days. Then some of the local kids decided to repaint it. And they kept repainting it every few days after the saltwater and sun faded the markings. Eventually, the town Council just had the image etched," Sakura explained, her head half turned in Ino's direction as she spoke over her shoulder.

Finally reaching the plaque, Sakura shifted her gaze down to read it, "Anyway, the real reason I wanted to come over here is because I haven't gotten a chance to actually read this."

"And what is it exactly?" Ino questioned as she moved to stand next to her.

Instead of answering, Sakura glanced across the text, reading it quickly, 'Dedicated to my best friend, the Princess of Konoha.'

"Well, I had assumed it was just more of Naruto's idiot ramblings, but…" Sakura paused, shaking her head. A sigh left her lips as she tapped gently on the edge of the dedication plaque.

Heat radiated against her back as Ino took a step closer to read the words over her shoulder. "You know, that's actually kind of sweet."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I was actually expecting it to say something like 'the super awesome amazing bridge dedicated to all my super awesome fans'," Sakura replied pitching her voice to mirror her blond teammate's overexcitement. "But this…" she shook her head again, turning around to face Ino. "I didn't know the idiot could be this sweet."

"I guess he does have the heart of a romantic after all."

Nodding once, Sakura took a step back, slipping past her friend to head back to their spot on the bridge.

"You know, I always knew he was infatuated with her, but that right there is more than that," Ino continued, chancing one more look at the plaque before following Sakura back to their spot.

"Yeah, I've always had my suspicions, but that just confirms it. He's in love with her," Sakura stated, plopping back down.

A moment of silence filled the space between them before they both burst out in a fit of laughter.

"So are you going to tell that knucklehead or should I?" Ino asked as she sat down beside Sakura. "Because we both know he isn't going to figure it out on his own."

Sakura smiled widely at that knowing that Ino was completely right about Naruto. Despite all the complaining, most of which she'd intentionally orchestrated because she loved to watch her friend squirm uncomfortably, she was glad Ino was here. Yeah, sure she missed Sasuke, but he was still miserable and moody hold up in his hospital bed. And even if he'd been one hundred percent, he never seemed to want to do anything besides training. So while she missed him like she begrudgingly admitted to missing Naruto, she was glad it was just Ino and herself.

She guessed it was a good thing Shikamaru-san was stuck with Chuunin duties and Choji-kun was off being a good friend to someone who definitely needed it more.

"Hey, I'm glad you changed your mind about visiting the capital," Sakura said before resuming her meal.

"Well, don't get sappy on me. This was just the better option," Ino replied, her eye roll practically audible.

* * *

 _ **Power in the Name**_

Howdy all, here are a list of the names and meanings for the Wave Council. You probably don't care, but they're here anyway.

Yagami - eighth god

Hisakawa - from the word 'hisashi - a long time ago' and the word 'kawa - river'

Matsumoto - pine tree source

Shizuka - quiet summer

Ueda - high/rice paddy

Other names listed in this chapter were:

Isamu-chan - courage

Moritake - which is just a common last name that we decided to use

* * *

 _ **Counting the ryo**_

"Thirty-six million, four hundred thousand."

For all of you who thought 'wow, that's a lot of ryo. How did you even come up with that number?' well here's the process.

The number listed in this chapter comes from a calculation of a rate of $50 per acre converted into the current Japanese Yen value of ¥5892.13 for 25 km^2 of land rounded to the nearest ¥100,000. As you may have noticed (or not because we can't all be econ geeks), the market value for the land is super cheap. This is partly because we've used an inflation rate that assumed 7.85 CPI for around the Naruto universe time compared with the 237 CPI for 2015 in the US.

That means if you're counting and using the estimated current (2016) land value per acre in the US ($3,020) you get roughly $100. But wait, you might ask yourself, that doesn't account for the cost listed in this chapter. Well, remember that the people of Wave love Naruto (they were trying to just give the land away after all) so we added a 50% discount which was the same discount used in the previous land negotiation.

Fun fact: Haku negotiated 20% of the water territory and 25% of the land territory of Wave paying a grand total of ¥109,200,000 which was ~43.7% of his total winnings from the Chuunin Exam wagers. Clearly, Haku made bank betting on Naruto.

* * *

 _ **Culture Corner what Culture Corner?**_

Sorry guys, while there could have definitely been a culture corner for this chapter, we really didn't have the time nor the space to get it done here. Hopefully, we'll be able to post it as extra content. See you next week.


	6. Political Captive, Part One

**AN:** Howdy all! Well, we just keep trucking. Here's the next chapter for your enjoyment. As a reminder, Tumblr chapters are posted Monday, Wednesday and Friday. chapters are posted all on Sunday. Extra content will generally only be posted on Tumblr. Anyway, we own nothing and below is a list of words you might have forgotten.

* * *

 _ **Arc – Transition of Power**_

 _Chapter Five – Political Captives, Part One_

Shikamaru glared at the huge mahogany doors as they closed on his face, once again leaving him to his own devices while the Fire Daimyo spoke with the Koushi-sama in a meeting he clearly wasn't invited to attend. This was the seventh time in so many days that this had happened, but it couldn't be helped. He obviously wasn't cleared for the information being shared.

'Well, it's either that or the Daimyo just hates me,' he thought as he mentally reviewed his previous interactions with the man. 'Wait, has he even ever addressed me directly?' he questioned curiously before tossing the issue aside. He really didn't care if the Fire Daimyo recognized his existence. In fact, his dreams of a wonderfully average life required that the man didn't.

And it wasn't as if he actually wanted to be in there anyway. Stuck listening to the oddly flamboyant man with no way out until the Fire Nation ruler was done on pain of inciting an unfortunate diplomatic incident. 'Yeah, no. I'd rather have a tooth pulled without anesthetic,' he thought with a sigh. 'Not that this is any better,' he continued, glaring at the doors one last time before turning away to face the rest of the corridor.

It was empty except for the few guards stationed at regular intervals. He took a step to his right before leaning beside the doorframe. This was perhaps the definition of pure boredom, mind numbingly dull to the point that he was almost willing to subject himself to an hour of Rock-san's non-stop talking if he could get out of this detail. Closing his eyes in frustration, he realized he'd just reached beyond the point of desperation. 'What a troublesome thought,' he sighed.

But of course, while he might loath his current predicament, he definitely did not envy his new partner. No, he wouldn't take her place on pain of death. Especially not when death would at least release him from the endless boredom. 'Yeah, she's just going to have to take one for the team this time,' he thought absentmindedly. 'Well, maybe not team,' he continued fairly certain that the Daimyo barely managed to remember his name and would probably not notice if he was even in the room without his trusty assistant reminding him. 'Which does wonders for my ego,' he finished irritably.

Of course, none of that mattered. Not when he was conveniently out here not losing huge chunks of his life to obnoxious chatter that would be about as useful as a Hyuuga at keeping patrons in a brothel. 'Still, this isn't some cake walk either,' he thought as he eyed the artwork in the hallway. That Yajirobe painting across from him had practically become his best friend with how much time he'd spent staring at it.

'What a pain,' he thought as his gaze traced the abstract piece, taunting him with its sky blues and puffy whites so much like his second favorite pastime. Looking at it was almost like gazing at the sky on a partially cloudy day only without the possibility of his all-time favorite pastime, napping. But, it wasn't as if he could just nap while he was still technically on the job. 'Actually, I can't even leave this damn hallway,' he thought, clarifying the whole irritating matter. No matter what Ino claimed, he was lazy, not irresponsible.

'Troublesome missions with their technically incomplete objectives because annoying Fire Lords always seem to have one more thing, just one more conversation that just can't wait. All perfectly convenient for keeping us here completely against our will,' he thought bitterly. 'Oh, why did I become a Chuunin? I should have slept in and avoided all this.' Really, early mornings with Gai-sensei didn't seem all that bad in comparison.

Unfortunately, he couldn't change the past, which left him here, still on an active mission. And the Ninja Readiness Handbook was clear on the matter. Active missions required 'battle ready' preparedness and for ninja to remain 'ever alert' to all possible attacks. It didn't matter that they were in the relative safety of the Fire Nation Capital. As it was, ninja had been attacked in far safer environments.

How a three-day escort mission, four days tops, could end up on the tenth day with no end in sight was beyond all rational thought. It wasn't just bothersome; it was downright insufferable. How was his luck this bad to end up in this situation? Not only had he not gotten some kind of vacation like the majority of the Rookie Nine, their thanks for services rendered above and beyond the call of duty, but he'd also managed to land a mission that apparently had no end date.

'This is absolute bullshit,' he thought bitterly. 'It defies nearly all levels of probability. I should…' He let the thought linger for a moment more before quickly discarding it with a heavy sigh. Staring across from him was his friend the abstract Yajirobe sky, his surrogate for his own favorite sight, but it just wasn't the same. Dragging his gaze away from the painting, Shikamaru glanced up, mind imagining what he should have seen instead of the intricately designed ceiling of the palace. 'No, nothing can replace a lazy day atop soft green hills under a bright blue sky,' he thought wistfully.

So he hated every irksome moment he spent like this instead of where he was supposed to be. He hated every second he remained the Daimyo's political captive.

"Ah, the face of an abused man. Nara-san, I take it my father is in another meeting with the esteemed Koushi-sama?" The light voice filled with amusement drew Shikamaru's gaze away from the ceiling to face the growingly familiar Katsuo-sama, the Fire Daimyo's only son.

Tall and lean, his sharp features where nearly an identical mirror of his father's. He struck a striking figure garbed in the traditional Fire Nation colors, all bright reds, yellows and orange hues like the brilliance of the rising sun. Shikamaru would have envied the older boy, if not for his certainty that he had even less time to relax then himself. After all, the life of a noble could not be without its responsibilities and expectations.

Still, the young lord's jovial personality was infectious, and Shikamaru found himself easily nodding his head in respect, a small smirk creeping at the edge of his lips as he greeted the older boy, "I am afraid you are correct, Katsuo-sama. As troublesome as it seems, Koushi-sama has once again been drawn into another endless meeting with the Fire Lord."

"Do cheer up, Nara-san. I doubt you need guard the door for the next several hours." A huff of exasperation nearly left him at the comment, a slim brow lifting in clear disbelief. He was a shinobi of the leaf, unless the young lord was here to request another game of shogi, Shikamaru was in for more of Yajirobe-sensei's abstract paintings all of which decorated this wing of the palace.

Still, there was always that little bud of hope that his eternal boredom might be ending. After all, as a shinobi of the leaf, he could not deny the future lord of the Fire Nation. There need be only an offer of a game of shogi and he could say goodbye to boredom as he put his wits to the test. It wasn't often that a young lord didn't mind getting beaten in a game of wits.

As if reading his mind, Katsuo-sama shook his head at the unasked question. "Gomen'nesai, Nara-san, but I cannot avail myself for your entertainment today. Unfortunately, our last game of shogi took quite a spell to complete, and I would be remised in my duties if I once again indulged for such extended hours today." His face pulled into a sad smile as he continued, "Unfortunately, studies await no man. Even the future Fire Daimyo is not immune to its call."

"Of course, Lord Katsuo," Shikamaru stated quickly, touched by the young lord's genuine care. It was certainly not something he would have anticipated before this mission. Of course, Shikamaru hadn't ever really concerned himself with what kinds of people made up the nobility of the Fire Nation, but it hadn't taken him long to realize that the genuine kindness and consideration Katsuo-sama showed him was a rare trait. Well, perhaps not quite so rare given that his partner had shown him a true earnestness and willingness to work with him that spoke of a similar consideration at odds with what he would expect from her title.

"Still, I do believe my father's guards and the ever vigilant dedication of the Koushi-sama will be more than enough to protect him. So I see no reason you can't explore the city for a turn."

The protest was on his lips in an instant, not requiring conscious thought to even register his required response. He knew his job, knew what was expected of him even if he loathed the irksome responsibilities of it all. He could not simply do as he pleased, not while still on active duty. But the young lord would not hear a word of it, continuing to speak even before the words of protest could leave Shikamaru's lips.

"Not a word, Nara-san. Not a word. You have stood vigilant for nearly a week. My father can be without you for one day." Katsuo-sama paused, waiting patiently for Shikamaru to visibly give in to the order before continuing, "Now please, enjoy the pleasures of the city. It is as much your home as it is mine. I will inform the Koushi-sama of your departure at their meeting's conclusion. I am certain she will not begrudge you this small opportunity."

Shikamaru nodded. Although he thought he could make an accurate general assumption of her behavior given the general extent of their interactions thus far, in actuality, he barely knew his new partner. That said, by all appearances the young lord clearly knew Koushi-sama far better than he. So he trusted the young noble's opinion, confident that the familiarity in the lord's voice spoke of a certainty that Shikamaru doubted he'd ever be able to gain.

"Hopefully, the rest of your day proceeds far more pleasantly then it already has. Now, I must bid you ado."

"Of course, Lord Katsuo," he stated, bowing deeply as the young lord took his leave before doing likewise, heading in the opposite direction.

By now the palace halls had become more than familiar. Brilliant golds. Radiant reds and yellows. Ornate carvings in strong woods at every twist and turn. It would have made for a wonderful sight if he'd had the time to leisurely peruse each corridor. Alas, such off-duty activities were granted only to those staying as guests of the palace.

Gaze drifting, Shikamaru glanced down a random hall, spying the extremely intricate design of several gold sculptures. Given the sheer number of similar such statues, he'd cleverly named that part of the palace the 'gold wing'. He assumed only the highest profile guest stayed there, but given the glare of the guard standing sentinel at the hall's opening, he was sure he'd never get a chance to confirm it.

Here he was, going through all this trouble only to be barred from the majority of the home of the man he was technically here to protect. Honestly, would it have really been so bad for them to have accepted the Daimyo's offer and enjoyed at least some of the palace's splendor? But Koushi-sama had declined the proffered rooms practically before the offer had even been fully made.

'Of course she had,' Shikamaru thought as he turned the corner, mentally confirming the guard locations as he made his way out of the palace. She'd also refused the apartments and hotel rooms the Daimyo had offered that were within the Palace District as well. He understood humility. Didn't really see a point to it, but he understood. 'Still the Koushi-sama takes it to new extremes.'

He wasn't sure if that was a Hyuuga thing, or if his new partner was just extremely humble. Either way, her humility was getting in the way of his comfortable captivity. 'Maybe she's got some kind of monk thing going on?' he thought, absentmindedly turning down the last corridor. If he remembered correctly, the Hyuuga were among the most pious of the Clans in the village.

He hated to admit that their characteristic piety hadn't even crossed his mind in concerns to the Koushi-sama, but when he thought about it now, her reserve did make sense. Which was a shame because the only thought that had carried through the village making the idea of this assignment bearable was the notion that he'd at least get to indulge in some of the luxuries his pay grade could not – and honestly, never would be able to – afford. 'I am partnered with the ninja world's equivalent to a princess. There should be some benefits to that,' he thought with a sigh as he finally reached the high doors that barred his exit from the palace proper.

'And yeah, sure, a private wing in the palace for just the two of us would have been a bit much, but did she really have to refuse every offered gift outside of the most basic request of a single hotel room?' he thought as he pushed the heavy dark oak doors open. Wincing at the harsh glare of the sun burning his retinas, Shikamaru raised a hand to shield his eyes as they adjusted to the bright winter sun.

'At least it's been a warm season.' Now he wouldn't have to worry about freezing on his unnecessarily long walk back to their small shared hotel room. His feet took him silently down the immaculate streets of the Palace District. Every shop he past was large and elegant, but more importantly annoyingly out of his price range.

Looking away, his gaze caught the steam from what he knew to be the largest bathhouse outside of Hotspring Country. He sighed wistfully. It was free entry. At least free to anyone actually staying within the Palace District. He'd tried to fake it early on, but the voucher he'd used – a simple genjutsu on a piece of scrap paper he'd found lying around – had been easily expelled. It seemed a lot of ninja, Genin and Jounin alike tried to enter like that.

'Just one perk. One. Is that really too much to ask?' he thought bitterly. Where were the lavish hotels? Free meals from five star restaurants? Complimentary anything? But no, he was denied nearly every perk that would have made this captivity bearable.

Trudging down a nearby alleyway, a shortcut he'd found early in their forced stay, Shikamaru grumbled to himself. He couldn't even blame his partner. Fuck, he only knew that she slept because she hadn't passed out from exhaustion yet. As it was, she was still pouring over paperwork with her annoying Hyuuga assistant when he dragged himself to sleep every night and she was just getting back in from whatever training she did when he dragged himself from bed every morning. She was so busy she might have had six maybe eight hours, not counting sleep or training, of free time in the past seven days. Instead, she was either at the Daimyo's ear or behind a desk piled high with more paperwork than he imagined the Hokage had to sift through.

"Not that she spent that time having anything even resembling fun," Shikamaru muttered, hands digging further into his pants pockets as he slipped down another back alleyway. As he recalled, those eight hours, broken up over a period of four days, had been spent in conference with businessmen or at least someone dressed like arrogant businessmen. He hadn't asked for clarification. He'd just found some place else in the hotel to be during those meetings.

Shrugging the thought aside, Shikamaru slipped around one more corner stepping out into the bustling street that held their fairly non-descript hotel. It was a simple building, ornate, but not overly so, a fairly good pick for a pair of ninja attempting to keep a low profile. The only problem was; they shouldn't have needed the room to begin with. At least not for this long. Still, there wasn't anything he could do to change that.

Striding forward, Shikamaru paused outside the hotel, sturdy oak doors the only obstacle between him and the comfort of his bed. He could go up the three flights of stairs and navigate the winding hallways to reach his shared hotel room. He could even ignore the silent, yet extremely judgmental Hyuuga likely still there organizing Koushi-sama's missives. Hell, he was sure it would be easy to ignore the man's annoyingly condescending gaze, brows pinched behind thick rimmed glasses in silent disapproval as he fiddled with papers only to finally manage to take the nap that he so rightly deserved. But…

'Is it really worth all the trouble?' he questioned, thoughtfully glancing behind him and to the bright winter sky. 'Surely there's a beautiful grassy knoll out there where I can kick back and enjoy the clouds lightly dotting the sky,' he continued taking a step back and away from the building.

With a nod, Shikamaru spun slowly on his heels feet pointed in a random direction as he started walking. It might take him some time to find that perfect place to relax, but at least this way he wouldn't have to deal with Koushi-sama's troublesome assistant. 'And if I'm lucky, I might stumble into someone I know. Maybe con them into a game of shogi,' he added wistfully. That was one of the many things he missed about being a Genin under Asuma-sensei's teachings. That and the lack of responsibility. Oh well. 'When I get back, if I get back, I'll just have to challenge the man to a game.'

Briefly he wondered if he could coax his new partner into a game, sure that the famed calculating logic of Hyuuga tactics would make for an interesting challenge. But of course the prospect of coaxing anything out of a Hyuuga, let alone the Koushi-sama, just seemed too troublesome a task. At least he wouldn't be bringing the subject up anytime soon.

Distracted and lost within his own thoughts, Shikamaru traveled aimlessly through the city, small bits of conversation floating to his ears every once in awhile.

"…I'm telling you Nii-san stay away from that quarter while that manic is there. I don't trust folks that…"

Shikamaru absentmindedly turned a corner, the conversation fading out as the crackle of children's laughter filled the air. Distracted, his mind on other things, he still noticed the moment he entered the Uchiha Quarter. Bright laughter and warm cadences, the sounds were the same. The sights and smells intimately familiar in their near identical quality.

Glancing around, Shikamaru nodded once in confirmation. Gaze flirting around the bustling area noting the only real difference between the Quarter here and the District back in Konoha, the people. Men and women in near equal numbers selling their wares in stark contrast to the Konoha streets where nearly all the shops were run by men alone. But it was more than that. The voices of the old and young, all friendly, all cheerful. Far more welcoming to the surrounding strangers than the highly divided measures back in the village. Politics was the name of the game he just hated to play, but was probably the primary cause for such differences.

Even so, it was an interesting contrast to see. A difference of character so unlike any of the other clans of Konoha if that stuffy Hyuuga assistant creeping around their hotel room like a bad smell was anything to go by. Apparently, only the Uchiha seemed to work as two different clans in two distinct places.

The clamoring of activity briefly caught his attention. A young man, really more boy than man, stepping out of the entryway, no door to be seen, with an old woman following after him, her slow measured steps likely a product of her advanced years. Dark hair and equally dark features screamed Uchiha which was only confirmed by the arrogant tilt of his chin as he spoke, the Uchiha fan embossed on his back.

"Really, Baa-chan? I heard you the first time. I'm going, okay." The young man's voice had a familiar exasperation that Shikamaru was all too accustomed to. Overbearing women were all the same, not that he'd tell that to their faces,he didn't have a death wish.

"And don't you forget a thing on that list," the old woman stated, voice raised. Just as Shikamaru had thought. Nagging women, always demanding activity. Why couldn't they let a man sleep? Maybe then he could have failed the Chuunin Exams and live out at least the next five years as an average Genin.

Turning away from the pair, Shikamaru moved to continue his aimless walk. Some dreams were just that, dreams. Suddenly, his fight or flight response kicked in, instincts moving in overdrive. On autopilot, he found himself pressing a kunai into the pale neck of an oddly familiar face as his would be assailant loosened his grip on his arm.

"Ah? You're the honorable Koushi-sama's partner, correct?" the boy questioned nervously, dark eyes shifting from side to side. Shikamaru didn't immediately let go at the question. Sure, the boy didn't seem like a threat, but he was annoyed enough at the interruption not to care. "Ah, it's, um, Tingzhe of the Donghai Family. We met at the Daimyo's Dinner a few days ago," the boy continued, his nervousness growing with each passing second.

An exasperated sigh left Shikamaru's lips as he took a step back, putting away his kunai before he caused a political incident that he couldn't talk his way out of. There was, after all, no way to live an average existence if he injured a nobleman's son. "Of course, I remember you now," Shikamaru replied as Lord Tingzhe steadied his nerves. 'You and the rest of the eligible flock of nobles that can't seem to take a hint,' he added silently with a roll of his eyes at the memory of said dinner. This was beyond irksome.

"Great, great," Lord Tingzhe nodded, nervously wiping his hands along the length of his trousers, the wool material easily absorbing the sweat from his palms. His suit was as nice as anything Shikamaru could have expected for a son of one of the most powerful nobles in Fire Nation, high thread count, beautiful cross stitching. Causal without the matching necktie, top button left undone, long dark hair tied in a simple topknot atop his head, one intricately carved pin holding it together.

'That's probably jade and gold,' Shikamaru thought with an irritated sigh as his gaze shifted away from the hairpin back to the nervous gaze of the nobleman. He waited in the prolonged silence, unwilling to engage the slightly older boy, but also painfully aware that he couldn't just walk away like he would have preferred. That would have been rude, and unlike Naruto, who somehow got away with that on a regular basis, he could no sooner deny that he was raised with some form of manners. Manners beaten into him at a young age and thus couldn't be ignored.

"Okay…well," the nobleman paused again, one nervous hand wiping at the back of his neck as he searched for words. Lord Tingzhe took a breath, steadying himself before the confidence that Shikamaru had once witness at the Fire Daimyo's state dinner came rushing back. "Tell me about the Koushi-sama," he commanded, self-assured that his request would not be denied.

'Ah, this,' Shikamaru thought as he raised a questioning brow at the older boy. He knew what he wanted. How could he not when he'd spent the better part of an entire evening watching practically every suitable Fire Nation noble son hover at a short distance from the Koushi-sama waiting impatiently for her attention at a dinner Shikamaru still wasn't sure how the Daimyo managed to cobble together in such a short time frame.

Actually, now that he was thinking about it, he was pretty sure that another one of those dinners was coming up soon. Within the next two days in fact. It was the current excuse for why they'd been forced to once again extend their stay. He'd been expecting something like this days ago, but that didn't mean he was prepared for it. 'I was supposed to see them coming so I could find myself somewhere else to be.' Oh well, he couldn't always be perfect. In the meantime, he'd just have to deal with troublesome noblemen.

His silence had the effect he wanted as the young lord lost his momentary confidence and broke out into a heavy nervous sweat. 'Probably ruining that nice suit.' Then again, the kid probably had another dozen of the same. Why was he even thinking about doing this again?

"Look, Nana-san. It was Nana-san, right? As the Koushi-sama's partner, you're privy to a wealth of information. I just want some of it."

'Right, I'm the partner to the Koushi now.' She was going to owe him for this one. If he ever got around to telling her, which now that he thought about it also seemed like too troublesome a task.

"I need…I, ah, I can make it worth your while. The Donghai Family has far more pull in this city than nearly all of the other great families." The young lord stumbled on.

"Nara," Shikamaru replied with a bored sigh. He couldn't just leave, but he certainly didn't have to entertain a guy who couldn't even be bothered to learn his name before approaching. The kid should have at least learned his name if he was going to try to buy him. Not that it would help him get what he wanted, but it was the basic rule of bribery.

"I beg your pardon?" Tingzhe replied in confusion.

"Nara, as in my name," Shikamaru continued. Why hadn't he avoided this conversation again? 'Right trying to find that grassy knoll.' He looked out at the bustling streets. Concrete everywhere. His partner really owed him after dealing with this idiot. This was the last thing he wanted to do, fall into the political games of the nobility. He wasn't equipped for it, at least not like his partner who'd clearly been well versed in it if the ease she'd avoided every annoying prick vying for her attention at dinner was anything to go by. Not a one of her would-be suitors had gotten a word in edgewise with the Daimyo talking her ear off. Which was great for her, but given the fact that he was now being accosted by an entitled ass not so stellar for him.

"Oh, of course, my apologies," the lord corrected offhandedly before rushing forward. "But do tell me all you can about the lovely Koushi-sama. As you may be aware, I was…unable to obtain a significant amount of her time, and I would very much like to rectify that problem. Your assistance is much appreciated and will of course be well compensated."

"Unfortunately, the Koushi-sama and I have only been partners for a short time." Stall tactic one employed. 'Now, just turn around, so I can be on my way.'

"Oh, but surely, you can tell me something."

Shikamaru tried not to roll his eyes. There goes that game. "Hai, I could…" he began but was interrupted before he could finish.

Tingzhe smiled widely, "Great! Do tell me everything over lunch. My treat. I know this great place in the Hyuuga Quarter. Best barbeque…"

"But I won't," Shikamaru finished. He really didn't need to know everything he was throwing away, especially since he was almost positive Tingzhe was talking about the only Akimichi owned restaurant in the Fire Nation Capital. 'I couldn't afford that place even if I was making Jounin money,' he thought bitterly as Tingzhe sputtered, his anger slowly darkening his features.

"You know who I am. You'd do well to remember that," he spat in growing anger.

"Sumimasen, Lord Tingzhe, however my partner and I are both ninja of the leaf. You see, we ninja really value our privacy. Of course, I'm sure you'll do well enough without my assistance," Shikamaru answered as politely as he could still hoping to avoid an incident.

Tingzhe's face turned bright red at that, probably in both embarrassment and anger. "I shall remember this, Nara-san. You have made an enemy of the Donghai Family today," Tingzhe spat before turning away rushing further into the Uchiha Quarter as he went.

'I guess I shouldn't have corrected him about my name,' Shikamaru hummed quietly, turning on his heels to quickly vacate the area. Now that Tingzhe had mentioned it, he found himself a little hungry. The smells from the Uchiha Quarter made his stomach rumble, but he needed to get out of here. It wouldn't do for any more desperate nobles to approach him today. He really could only afford to make one enemy a day.

'Clearly being the Koushi-sama's partner is just as troublesome as I thought it would be,' Shikamaru sighed as he trudged blindly through the city market place on the lookout for a street vendor. Unlike Konoha, which lived on street vendors, the Fire Nation Capital had far more restaurants in comparison, all of which seemed too much trouble to bother with.

Aimlessly, Shikamaru wandered, bright colors flirting across his vision, rancorous conversation assaulting his ears unendingly. The Capital was full of more life and energy then he could have imagined. Exhaustingly so. Surely these people couldn't be happy all the time.

'Surely I should have stumbled upon the Hyuuga Quarter by now.' That place would be all muted colors and subdued sounds, instead of this seizure inducing sensory overload that seemed to make up the majority of the Fire Nation Capital so far.

Kids laughed. And shop owners called joyfully from their bustling stoops. Not even the occasional stiff backed and rigidly held patron could detract from the nonstop energy.

"Matte ne," Shikamaru mumbled as his gaze snapped back to the unusually large group of grayscale garbed, long haired individuals congregated just outside of one of the more festive looking restaurants. 'Isn't that…'

Gaze shifting across the clearing, Shikamaru let his thought trail off, unfinished as his dark gaze tracked more of the low energy patrons. Similarly dressed to the group he'd spotted just outside of the restaurant he'd passed less than a kilometer ago, there could be no mistaking it. Even without confirmation of what he assumed would be pale eyes, the obvious indication of a doujutsu more famous then perhaps the Fire Daimyo himself. Those were Hyuuga. More than he'd expect to be outside of their own Hyuuga Quarter. So that could only really mean one thing.

'So this is the famed Hyuuga Quarter of the Fire Capital,' Shikamaru thought, his gaze flirting across the diverse bunch, an eclectic mix of relatively blank faced Hyuuga and bright faced citizens that seemed at odds with each other.

'Well, at least part of it,' he continued as he remembered the reported size of the sector. He'd been hesitant to believe the report before, but now. Now that he was here, gaze ghosting across shop after shop after shop, he had to believe it. Clearly, the Hyuuga's preference for joint venture operations, as interesting as Shikamaru always found it, resulted in what seemed like an endless Quarter of Hyuuga bound people and equally interesting partnerships.

"…they worship a false God! A charlatan! And you all flock at their feet…"

The screaming seemed to come from nowhere, ripping Shikamaru from his leisure walk as some priest, his face red with exertion spit foaming at the corners of his mouth, waved a brightly bound book in the air. His fingers wrapped around the book tightly, clasped around the gold pages like Midas' touch to what would have normally been an ordinary tome.

"…Denounce the Hyuuga Heretics! Their bounty is the result of cavorting with false deities and their reign will fall…"

The deep red of his priest robes shook violently as the man sharply cut through the air with a vigorously moving hand. Propped on a pedestal, he drew only the occasional curious look, but that seemed not to deter him as he continued to scream his diatribe into the empty air surrounding him.

"…Their prosperity shall be given as an offering to the one true God in all his terrifying glory! Denounce the Hyuuga Heretics NOW and you shall be blessed with his mercy! Denounce…"

Shikamaru ignored the crazed lunatic, moving past him with only a raised eye as he noticed the shine of the golden crescent moon emblazed on his back. It was novel to see a group of people – and he assumed that the fanatic wasn't alone in his lunacy as seemed to be the case for all radical groups – outside of the ninja world that despised the Hyuuga. But it was nothing more than a curiosity, an irritating one at best.

Drifting down the bustling street, gaze shifting from shop to shop, Shikamaru hummed lightly as he walked still on the lookout for an easy snack. This was nice. Well, as nice as his continued search for the perfect place to nap under the sun could be, but nice all the same. Now if only he could find something quick and easy to munch on. Where was Choji-kun when you needed him? 'Relaxing it up in Konoha,' Shikamaru thought bitterly, answering his own query.

"…oh, of course not, but I am fortunate enough to have children that all want to honor our family. Although the Calling has never really been particularly strong in our side of the family, they have all managed in their own way to bring great honor to the family." Drawn from his thoughts on his growing hunger, Shikamaru paused at the sound of conversation floated to his ears. His gaze eyeing the little café sign suspiciously. The doorless entryway leaving the café open and welcoming. He could even spy a small group of Hyuuga sitting at the table right next to the window gossiping away like old maids. This was probably a little too convenient. Should he just go in and risk interacting with people?

"I do suppose you have a point. Poor Kazue-sama. I just feel so sorry for her. I mean to have four great, productive children, with not one but two children having the Calling to Her temple," one of the gossiping Hyuuga shook his head, "and little Kazue-chan shaping up to be a woman just as dedicated as her mother. It's just a right shame for the youngest to bring so much dishonor to the family. I cannot imagine the kind of stress our Kazue-sama is under."

Shikamaru eyed the doorway suspiciously allowing the conversation to continue around him. It did smell quite tempting.

"Three years."

"No, that can't be."

"Oh, I'm afraid so. The boy has been without an apprenticeship for three years."

"But isn't he only…"

The Hyuuga nodded, cutting his friend off before he could finish, "I know. To think he has never had an apprenticeship."

"Oh, the shame."

"And that's not all. I've heard that he's acquisitioned a separate apartment."

"With no prospects?" His friend nodded. "Poor Kazue-sama."

"I pray to the Goddess every day for our dear Kazue-sama. Every day. Now if only she answered…"

Shikamaru turned away, not bothering to stay around longer to hear any more of the gossiping Hyuuga's conversation. While he'd never tell Ino to her face, there was such a thing as too much gossiping, and that was his limit. Plus, that café would be bustling with even more energy than he had the patience to deal with given the week he'd had. No, he needed relative quiet. A few minutes to himself to just relax.

Continuing on, luck finally seemed to turn his way as a row of street vendors lined the next street over. Mouthwatering, Shikamaru picked up a couple of onigiri and was on his way just as quick as he'd come. 'Now I've just got to find that beautiful grassy knoll.' With renewed purpose and a full stomach, Shikamaru picked up his pace just a tad. Paradise was only a few streets over. He was sure.

Soon enough he found himself on the outskirts of the Hyuuga Quarter, a ring of low end hotels and reasonably priced apartments the only thing between him and rolling hills.

Walking slowly, his eyes on the lookout for anything green among the various shades of gray, his gaze caught a familiar hairstyle, two tufts of hair parted in a way that was impossible to mistake for anyone other than his childhood friend Choji. A smile crept across his face as he searched the crowd for a blonde ponytail. If Choji was here, then Ino was surely close by as well. Except…

'Huh? Where's Ino?' he questioned, a frown slowly wiping away his grin. As troublesome as Ino was, on a vacation like the one he assumed Choji was on, she should have been a package deal. 'Unless…'

He let the thought hang, his gaze searching for other familiar forms until it landed on two familiar silhouettes. 'Ah, so not a pleasure trip,' Shikamaru thought as he eyed Shino-san and Kiba-kun warily. He missed his friends, Choji especially, but after Akamaru-kun's death Kiba-kun needed a lot more support than Shikamaru was really able to give.

So, while he wanted to say hello to his friends, unleash the rant he'd been reigning in for almost a week about his current situation, he also didn't want to have to comfort anyone. Not that he didn't want Kiba-kun to return to his bright and sunny disposition. But did he really need to be the one to do it? He'd seen the effort his father put in whenever his mother was in a bad mood. And that was normal stuff, not best friends dying in your arms bad mood. It really was too much work, especially given the week he'd been having. So, he wasn't going to go over there. This was his time to relax.

'I've got problems of my own. I don't want to add to them,' he thought with a growing sense of guilt, but he really just wanted a nap. Turning to go, his foot hesitated at the sound of his name being yelled over the crowd.

"Shikamaru-kun!"

'Oh no. I've been spotted.' In a split second, he decided to just keep going. 'Maybe if I get far enough, I can pretend I didn't hear him,' he reasoned, gaze pointedly turned away from where he knew his friends were.

"Shikamaru-kun!" The voice grew louder so Shikamaru quickened his steps, just fast enough not to seem too suspicious.

'You can do it. Just a little further and you can disappear around a corner.'

An arm came down on his shoulder, "Hey Shikamaru-kun!" Choji cheerfully replied. "I was hoping we'd bump into you," he smiled widely.

Shikamaru held back a sigh. "Yeah, I was just going…"

"No, no, stay," Choji cut him off just as Shino-san and Kiba-kun joined them. "We're going to the Red Lantern District. Those places are always better in groups."

"Indeed. While I do not normally find comfort in those types of shady areas, it is the best location for rediscovering one's self. Or so Hana-san has assured us. Why do you ask? Because of the anonymity of the place…"

Shikamaru easily tuned out the rest of Shino-san's long monologue. Choji hadn't let go, or mention his previous attempt to escape. His strong grip kept a constant pressure, pulling him in a direction he didn't actually want to go but apparently had absolutely no choice in the matter. Shikamaru cursed his luck as Shino-san continued a long running monologue of why they would enjoy themselves in the Red Lantern District.

'Geez, who knew whoring could be made to sound so unappealing,' he thought with a sigh. 'Correction. That is whoring, gambling and drinking.'

Shikamaru tested Choji grip at the next corner, hopeful that he might still be able to slip away, but his friend didn't let up. Hell, there wasn't even so much as a side glance in warning. 'Okay, so this is happening,' he thought reluctantly as dreams of a grassy knoll evaporated. He knew when he was beaten. Although the pure assertiveness Choji employed was certainly new. Clearly, he was spending way too much time with Ino.

At another firm tug down the Red Lantern District, Shikamaru shifted his gaze to eye Kiba-kun. He did look a little less pale. Hopefully his sacrifice won't be in vain. 'Trading one form of captivity for another.' "What a pain," he muttered under his breath.

* * *

 _AN:_ Howdy all. We hope you like this so far. As a reminder, we don't put anything in that isn't relevant to the story. We hope this keeps you guessing, but not too much.


	7. Political Captive, Part Two

_**Arc – Transition of Power**_

 _Chapter Six – Political Captives, Part Two_

"Surely you can stay longer, Koushi-san. There is so much more we can discuss over a private dinner," Takekasai-dono stated, his sentence muffled slightly by the fan lightly covering his face. "As wonderfully effective as our all too short time together has been, there is still so much more I can teach you," he continued, the fan fluttering across his face.

The movement stirred the air around them allowing Hinata to easily track it even as she approached her response with delicacy. The Daimyo's statement was grossly exaggerated given that she'd spent the majority of the last ten days with the man, locked in his counsel even as she worked with her Chuunin partner to get him back to the Capital safely.

The older man had latched onto her like a leech, unwilling to let Hinata out of his sight for longer than the hours he spent sleeping. It was stifling in a way that she'd never had to deal with before this point. Being more familiar with the cold solitude of her own thoughts as the world moved around her, this was a new experience. One that was not _particularly_ pleasant.

As such, exhaustion ruled her every waking day. Each second spent navigating the sensitive realm of the civilian nobility taxing in a way she hadn't expected when her tutors had stressed the issue. It was yet another failing that ate at her in the cold silence of the night when her only comfort was a reminder of _who_ she was. A _Hyuuga._ The heir her father had painstakingly molded into the perfect image of what the Hyuuga were _meant_ to be.

Which meant she could not, would not, falter now. Would not even _begin_ to _contemplate_ allowing that exhaustion to show.

"I apologize, Takekasai-dono; however, I must decline your most generous offer. As honored as the Hyuuga Clan is with your continued personal interest and invaluable advice, there are still several matters that must have my immediate attention."

The Daimyo's robes ruffled the sound easily making it to her ears as he shifted in his seated position, shoulders sinking minutely in reluctant acceptance. That was perhaps the best trait of the Fire Lord, although he rarely budged on the things that he wanted, he was always amenable to reason. "A shame then. Certainly, your honored presence will be greatly missed tonight." Silence filled the space between them as the Daimyo absentmindedly lowered his ceremonial fan. "And if I cannot change your mind…"

Here he waited patiently, allowing the silence to draw out as if to force her to concede in order to alleviate the growing awkwardness. It was a good tactic. One that she was sure worked well on everyone else; however, she would not be so easily cowed by heavy silence. How could she when silence had been her most constant companion for the majority of her life? "Very well then, since there is nothing I can say to change your mind, we shall postpone our discussion until the morrow."

"As always it's been a pleasure and an honor. Good evening, Takekasai-dono," Hinata replied simply, bowing shortly before turning to leave.

In several quick strides she was at the door passing through the open space as attendants rushed to open it. Immediately, she noted the absence of her partner, an unexpected occurrence, but one in which she did not feel deserved great concern. After all, Nara-san was a highly capable shinobi who attended first and foremost to his duty despite his general distaste for the tasks in which it regularly required. As such, he would not abandon his post without just cause.

So, Hinata did not waste a moment fretting over his absence. Instead, she focused on her rapid exit from the premises. Sure that if she did not completely remove herself from the Daimyo's purview, then she risked being drawn back into the man's orbit. A risk she could not afford to take. Not if she wished to maintain a tight grasp on her sanity. Not if she wished to maintain what little hold she had left on the control her father trained into her.

With the familiarity born of repetition, Hinata easily navigated the winding halls. As the distance grew between her and the Daimyo's private meeting room, her assurance of her day with the man finally reaching its conclusion, a heaviness settled between her shoulder blades. The weight of more than just exhaustion pressed down on her, each new step heavier than the last despite achieving some modicum of freedom. This was…

Well, trying was perhaps an understatement given the current situation. As the days drew on each meeting seemed to last longer than the last, filled with the endless chatter of a man she respected but wished desperately would finally allow her to leave. The little voice in the back of her mind whispered the truth of her situation. Reminded her that her father would not have allowed such delay, would not have allowed anything from keeping him from returning to the Clan, from returning to the one duty that mattered. And yet…

A sigh bubbled up from the depths of her throat. Shame at her own inadequacies, but there was already so much weighing down on her, pressing in on her until she labored at every breath. A hitch away from being shaky. There was just so much, she didn't need the added burden of worrying about not harming the Fire Lord's feelings as well.

So she felt no shame at her relief for having a valid excuse to refuse his dinner invitation. She could imagine the conversation. One sided and filled practically with an extension of their previous discussion that had consumed the docket for the last two days. Presently, the current imperative topic to her education was a subject she'd learned ages ago. She had hoped…

Well, her hopes were irrelevant. Luxuries she could not afford to indulge, had never been allowed to indulge. 'But taxes and levies…' She nearly sighed at the memory. Day three on the topic at hand had worn her patience thin. An occurrence she hadn't anticipated when Takekasai-dono had first brought up the issue.

Of course the discussion was not completely useless. After all, the Daimyo had an insight to the issue concerning the civilian aspect of taxation that made for interesting conversation. However, that did not change the fact that she had covered the topic thoroughly in her own personal studies. And at this point she knew more than enough in order to govern effectively. More than enough for her to realize what acceptable taxation practices would look like for her people. And certainly enough to recognize an error if presented before her by the General Council.

In all honesty, the Daimyo's insistence to explore every minute detail was… excessive. A misuse of her limited time especially with the current state of her Clan. And to make matters worse, tomorrow would be more of the same. More mundane talk of topics better left to her General Council. Assuming Lord Chi-Fu failed to make an appearance in the Capital tomorrow.

Internally, Hinata sighed at the thought. Lord Chi-Fu was just another part of the problem. A distraction from the Daimyo's overall agenda that currently held not only herself but Nara-san as well captive in the Fire Capital. Thankfully, Takekasai-dono's agenda lacked nefarious intent geared to upset the balance of power or the Hyuuga Clan's place within that power structure. No, the Daimyo was just a man overly excited at the prospect of accomplishing something that few, if any, of his predecessors had. He wanted the prestige that came with being a trusted and valued mentor to the next Hyuuga Clan head.

It was an opportunity that came so rarely, especially for the Fire Daimyo whose succession rate was vastly outpaced by that of the Hyuuga. And especially not when the Hyuuga heir could actually benefit in some way from his mentorship.

Hinata briefly attempted to remember the last time the Hyuuga Clan had been in such a state of incomplete transition; however, she could not think of a perfect comparison. Which didn't surprise her given the fact that the current statutory laws of the Hyuuga Clan were barely four generations old, her generation included.

Of course while she understood his motives that did not change her current inconvenient position. She had more effectual tasks to accomplish that could not be completed while she remained the Daimyo's figurative captive. Protest muted due to her lack of efficacy, her own deficiencies compounding as she failed to successfully negotiate her own freedom without stepping on some political landmine. As such, Takekasai-dono's desire to become a valued mentor did not erase the irritating, frustrating reality of the situation.

Body still moving on autopilot, the pungent waft of a familiar cologne assaulting her senses ripped Hinata violently from her thoughts. Clearly, Katsuo-sama was in the process of courting one of the many eligible noblewomen in the Capital.

'Perhaps I should suggest an alternative strategy for his courtship,' Hinata thought offhandedly. She doubted that his current paramour appreciated the extent to which he abused the fragrance. And given the fact that she was always attempting to find more efficient ways to connect with the handful of contacts that she maintained regular correspondence with, a suggestion made by her penultimate tutor before becoming a Genin, she thought he might appreciate the advice.

Turning the corner Hinata easily slipped out of the way of the hurried boy before he could collide with her completely unsurprised at his relative carelessness. While not completely untrained, he was still not a ninja. He did not have the same kind of training that would have afforded him the superior spatial awareness required to avoid all objects and persons while otherwise distracted.

"Oh, please forgive my inattention, Koushi-sama, I seem to find myself in a bit of a rush and in my haste I have nearly and unjustly accosted you with my person," Katsuo-sama quickly apologized. His breaths coming in rushed, rapid huffs of air easily adding to the sharp cadence of his wildly beating heart. Hinata paused in her trek as she brought up the customary niceties painstakingly practiced without hesitation.

"I assure you, Katsuo-sama, you were in no such risk. Your gracious apologies are entirely unnecessary," Hinata reassured him, hands slipping into the sleeves of her haori as she waited for his response.

"Ah wonderful, you've soothed my worried soul," he replied, the sound of crinkling fabric, soft silk slipping through lightly calloused fingers, reaching her ears as the boy dramatically clutched at his chest. It would seem that a tendency for the dramatics was a family trait, one at which Katsuo-sama greatly excelled.

Hinata ignored the comment already aware that it would not bother the boisterous boy. After all, he was well accustomed to her general dislike of extraneous conversation. "Anyway, I am quite pleased you've finally managed to escape my father. We are both quite conscious of his tendency to… well why don't we just call it his particular penchant to linger longer than necessary on any given subject." He chuckled lightly to himself at the thought, the loose strands of his hair shifting in the air signaling a shake of his head. "I can only just imagine the tremendous waves of relief currently consuming your countenance."

"Of that you are quite mistaken. For as always it is an honor to be in the service of your father. Takekasai-dono is a leader beyond reproach." The response was almost automatic, as reflexive as assuring the Hokage that she held no ill will against him for her father's sacrifice. Just meaningless platitudes that needed to be said to ensure the balance she so craved but was just outside of her reach.

"Ah, ever the diplomat I see. Unfailingly devoted to the cause. If only such sentiments fell as easily from my own lips, then my father would finally have great cause to deem me competent. If only such hopes could shape our reality. That I could wax such praise to match your infallible poise."

Hinata felt a hum of mild amusement at the overly flowery statement, "Clearly you underestimate your mastery of the spoken word, Katsuo-sama. Still, flattery is entirely unnecessary."

"And risk morphing into an unpleasant annoyance like your horde of suitors, I would never. I humbly present only the most honest of truths." He paused a moment with a flourish of a bow that swept the air around him in a rush.

"Ah, yes before I forget," he began as he righted himself. "I have relieved Nara-san from his vigilant post as I feel that only the truly unfortunate like ourselves should be held captive by my father's whim."

"Thank you for informing me," Hinata stated with a short nod of acknowledgement.

"Yes well it was of little issue. I simply maintained an ardent desire to see you unbothered with concern for your partner's whereabouts. Now if you will excuse me, I must meet with my father presently. There is the matter of him pulling me from my studies that must be discussed with the utmost urgency," he replied, the short bow of his head easy to follow in the near empty corridor.

"Farewell, my friend," he continued already turning around. Just as Hinata turned to do the same, Katsuo-sama paused mid-step. "Of course now that my mind is currently occupied with the thought I do believe this bears no resemblance of a true parting. Perhaps it deserves a different turn of phrase as we shall now both be present at my father's next soiree." A short pause followed filling the silence as he contemplated the idea. "Ah, yes I do believe this situation requires a change. So, until then, my friend."

"Of course, Katsuo-sama. Good evening," Hinata replied with a short nod of acknowledgement.

Finally parting ways, Hinata continued on her trek out of the palace proper not allowing for any additional distractions. Katsuo-sama was a known entity, predictable in the way that he put everything into his actions and multiple correspondences. His fear of the future. His frustration for his current situation. His insecurity born from a place of certain uncertainty.

Of that they had many things in common. A destiny to lead where even the smallest of mistakes could result in disaster for thousands and in his case even more. A strong desire to prove a worthiness to mentors that seemed perpetually unsatisfied with their progress. It was a difficult burden to carry, but one shared amongst all of her regular contacts. Over time, Katsuo-sama had found his particular release through the unfiltered medium of his letters. Unfortunately, she could not do the same.

Still a part of her was pleased that he could find some solstice in their correspondence even if his unbridled confessions had originally caused her some mild discomfort. Uncertainty, had weighed heavily on her. Uncertain on what he expected from her in returned. However, through their extended communication, she'd come to realize that he needed nothing but the occasional word of advice and a sounding board for his frustrations. A simple enough request that even _she_ had felt confident to provide.

And it had been that way with all of her regular contacts. Each seemed to treat their correspondences as a cathartic release expecting nothing more from her then her genuine interest delivered in the emotionless formality that had been drilled into her every interaction since her first clear thought. It was an effective means to gain the political connections she would need amongst the leaders of her generation. Although, she always wondered when her limited understanding of proper, emphatic human emotions would no longer be enough. When she would…

Mentally shaking the thought from her mind, Hinata focused on the task at hand, easily slipping through the barely noticeable side door of the palace as she started on the trek back to her shared hotel room. Only one series of correspondences currently held her attention, her letters from the Hokage. They'd included a curt status update, barely a tenth as detailed as the updates she received at far more regular intervals from her uncle and head retainer, and not much more. It was… frustrating to say the least. Frustrating and relatively irrelevant.

So far, she'd received updates on several agenda items discussed at the last Ninja Council meeting, but more importantly an ardent desire for Nara-san and herself to _continue_ their current mission despite their completed primary objectives.

All in all, those correspondences with the Hokage had been illuminating if nothing else. Clearly, he wanted her here in the Fire Nation Capital and away from the village as he continued to advocate for an agenda that Hinata could not seem to unravel. 'What gains could possibly be made from my continued absence?' she questioned body easily following the shortened path cutting straight through the Palace District.

She repressed a sigh at the thought, exhaustion filling practically every pore of her body doubling the weight already pressing harshly down on her. She was just so tired. The burden of an entire clan resting on her shoulders while she maneuvered every day to maintain peaceful working relations with a man who would not be dissuaded otherwise. And the Hokage's actions, or lack thereof, only made her wearier. Here was the man that her father had died for, and for what? The whispered questions challenging the necessity of her father's sacrifice floated in her subconscious refusing to quiet. Refusing to leave her in _peace_.

Here she stood, floating in a sense of limbo because she was without the guidance that she so clearly required. Frailty lurked in her heart. Weak hesitation crept at the back of her mind. How could she trust a man that refused to recall a team when their mission was complete? Even at the Daimyo's insistence, the Hokage could intervene. They were his warriors. His to use as he saw fit. And yet he refused. Clinging to an excuse that was flimsy and illogical and downright insulting in its transparency.

And there was no doubt in her mind that the Fire Daimyo would cede if pushed through reason. Understanding filled the intelligent, calculating thoughts of the Fire Nation's most powerful man. He would not take his disappointment out on the relationship between Konoha, not when he clearly understood what lurked just beyond the horizon. Takekasai-dono, a man who knew war just as the Hokage did, would not let petty sentiments impede the most logical course of action.

So she hesitated to trust in the man, despite knowing how much trust Uzumaki-kun placed in him. Despite knowing that her father had trusted him implicitly. A fact that incurred the guilt of a hidden betrayal. There was weakness in her heart and she could not stop it from leaking into her thoughts, bleeding into her every action. If the Hokage had once been a man worthy of that unwavering trust, she could not believe him worthy of it now. Not when she could so easily see the deceit and equally questionable underhanded tactics being used against her.

No, the Hokage had an agenda, something radically different than the words he proclaimed in public, and Hinata would be damned if she allowed it to continue without deeper study.

But there inlaid the problem. How could she possibly uncover the Hokage's hidden agenda with their glaring inequalities in experience? How could _she_ match intellect with the Professor?

'Oto-sama would have known what to do,' she thought, the weight settling heavier on her shoulders as she neared her destination. 'Oto-sama would have…'

She violently cut the thought off before it could fully form. Her subconscious unwillingly reminding her of a box she dare not touch. Couldn't bring herself to so much shift her sightless gaze in its direction. But those journals, volumes of intimate thoughts etched to paper, could probably illuminate her issues. Decades of experience tucked into the worn pages of her predecessors' thoughts, their wisdom locked within those pages.

And she knew their history. Knew that their journeys, their paths, had all been riddled with such uncertainty, such challenge that intimately mirrored her own in some small way that they would be practically invaluable to her cause. And all she need do was simply utter one statement, one simple command that would have Yuusuke-san at her side and ready to read off each written line.

But she couldn't.

The whispers assaulted her at night, seeping into her every waking interaction and she could not bear to add more fuel to a fire already stoked to blazing. She could not bear to hear even one long forgotten word uttered. Couldn't bear the thought of such intimacy, confessions so like Katsuo-sama's laid bare before her. Couldn't bear to add more fodder to her already burning reality.

So she'd doggedly avoided the task for weeks. Avoided the heft of their weight, unable to lift even one of them from the box that rested by her desk waiting patiently for her use. Demons penned in ink awaiting to be unleashed upon her. An excuse ready in the forefront of her mind every week because she was…

She couldn't utter the words of her failings. Couldn't even think them because she remained haunted by the dead. Haunted by the spirits as they pulled her in every direction. And nothing seemed able to ground her. So she allowed the journals to remain untouched, even if something hidden within those weathered pages could have helped her understand the logic behind the Hokage's deception. The strange twist in his rationale that seemed ever present since her father's sacrifice.

After all, what use was it to keep them here? The Daimyo had already given his support for the Third's heir apparent, Tsunade-sama. Takekasai-dono already posed to back any and all decisions Konoha needed to make concerning the impending war. So as far as Hinata could gather, their mission was complete. Every objective the Hokage had even thought to utter in his office before their departure achieved. Leaving Hinata with only one burning question.

'Why do you want me out of the village, Hokage-sama? What could you possibly have to fear from me?' she thought as she reached her hotel, door held wide by the building manager, the quick racing beat of his heart indicating that he'd jumped from his position behind the front desk and rushed to open the door for her.

Nodding once, Hinata slipped passed the man, easily ascending the steps that would take her to her shared room. Her first steps onto the floor were almost immediately joined by the familiar cadence of her retainer as he briskly walked to her side, mouth already open as he began his nightly update.

"Yotsugi-dono," he greeted with a half bow, before straightening. Hinata nodded once in acknowledgement, mildly pleased that he was as concise as she was for most matters. Concise and eager as he always met her at the floor landing ready to begin his debriefing before they'd even reached the door. She suspected that his Byakugan aided his punctuality which showed an eagerness that assured her that he would quickly improve in the areas of his service in which he still struggled.

"I've sent out our order for tonight's evening meal from the latest rotation of new Hyuuga co-owned establishments as requested. It should be ready for retrieval within the hour," he stated, the hard etched sound of his pen scratching into paper as he jotted his own notes down on his ever present clipboard.

Hinata continued forward without acknowledgement, knowing that Yuusuke-san would continue without further prompting. "On that related topic, Kita's Kitchen has requested your formal opinion on last night's entrees. I'd advice using the official stationary so that your letter can be framed and used at Kita-san's discretion," Yuusuke-san stated, not missing a beat even as he held the door open wide for her to enter first.

"Agreed," Hinata replied easily stepping passed him as she made her way to the low desk in the corner of the room. "Ready the official stamp as well for when I sign the letter," she continued, pushing the last of her lingering thoughts on the Hokage's mysterious agenda aside. Her concerns would have to wait. Right now, she had Hyuuga business to attend too.

As Yuusuke-san easily sunk down into his customary place beside her, readying her messages for review, the lingering musky scent of what could only be from a brothel, cheap cologne, even cheaper tobacco smoke and low quality alcohol, reached her nose, prickling at her senses. Tilting her head in the direction of her sleeping partner, half sprawled out across the sofa as was his typical evening custom, Hinata suppressed the frown of confusion threatening to mar her features.

Given what she'd come to discover about Nara-san, she would have assumed that he'd have spent his free time sleeping or relaxing on some secluded hill. Certainly, she hadn't expected him to spend it visiting the Red Lantern District. It almost seemed contrary to his character. But, they were new partners and clearly there was still much to learn about him.

"Your meeting with Jirou-san to go over the current list of open contracts is scheduled for 0800 tomorrow," Yuusuke-san stated, interrupting her train of thought to bring her attention back to the task at hand. "Jirou-san has…"

Hinata shifted her attention more fully on her retainer at his uncharacteristic pause. Clearly, whatever news he had would not likely be entirely agreeable. "He has, however, requested the meeting take place in the Delicate Flower teahouse in the Palace District. He cited an ease to your commute following your morning with him."

Her brow furrowed slightly at the statement, annoyed at Jirou-san break from Hyuuga protocol. She did not care if he conducted business with non-Hyuuga in this manner, he should have known better than to request a meeting with her in an establishment not even partially owned by the Clan. It was inappropriate, but she might have allowed it had he not also chosen the most high-profile area in the city.

How could she allow any such establishment to close down an entire floor for private Hyuuga business arrangements? Not to mention the waste of resources, the expense of such a meeting running counter to the Hyuuga business practices that her father had painstakingly imparted upon her night after night with little respite until she could recite them with detailed explanation and adequate defense without even the slightest pause. Really, she had thought the man better than this.

"Confirm the meeting time, however, inform Jirou-san that we shall be meeting at the Hyuuga Trade Union."

"Hai, Yotsugi-dono," Yuusuke-san stated, dutifully jotting down her order as he moved on to the next item of business. "Tatsuki-sama has brought to my attention that an Urahara Family representative wishes to speak with you regarding new business ventures in the Capital. You have an opening on the 28th. Shall I schedule it?"

"Hai, for the morning," Hinata acknowledge, more than relieved to have an activity that would buffer her interactions with Takekasai-dono especially considering she'd be required to attend the Daimyo's dinner the night before. This time she thought the Daimyo's excuse was a celebration of the old calendar New Year, not that the reason would change the fact that she'd still be spending the majority of the day with the rather long winded man.

Yuusuke-san's pen scratched furiously as he made the notation, "Another batch of the condolences from the noble families have arrived." He paused a moment in his writing, flipping a page to likely make a confirmation before continuing, "Several of the Rock country families send their sincerest sentiments, but have informed us that they will be unable to obtain the appropriate clearance requests in time to attend the ceremony."

There was another pause, one last flip of papers before Yuusuke-san continued, "In contrast, all of the Water and Fire nation noble families will be sending at least one representative to the memorial. And while we've heard no word from Lightning or Wind country yet, Tatsuki-sama expects their response within the next couple of weeks."

Hinata nodded once in acknowledgement understanding the difficulties currently facing both Lightning and Wind country given the state and strained relationships of their hidden ninja villages with that of Konoha. The delay was to be expected. "Tatsuki-sama has also sent a list of new retainers for your review, all qualified to assist you here in the Fire Capital." He paused here, hesitating to continue his statement as his hand lightly slid across the aforementioned list, "She has also sent along a list of suitable Clan properties for an extended stay."

The wood of his clipboard creaked as he gripped it tighter, already anticipating Hinata's next statement before she could utter it. "She understands your hesitancy to move into the apartments, but believes that given the current political climate that the move would be beneficial for all parties."

And of course Hinata was already aware of that. She knew logically that any such move would be more cost effective, but it would also mean admitting that they would be unable to leave the Capital for the foreseeable future. And she found that prospect highly unacceptable. She needed to be back in Konoha. She needed to be back with her Clan because they needed her. She couldn't…

"What a pain," Nara-san interjected, interrupting her thoughts with the unexpected comment. Hinata shifted slightly to better focus her senses on his form, surprised that she had not noticed the slight change in his breathing pattern and heart rate signaling his consciousness. "Don't tell me we're going to have to stay longer in this troublesome place," he continued with an annoyed sigh, hand waving flippantly in the air.

Shifting back to her retainer, Hinata addressed both of the other occupants in the room, "Delay the search for different lodging for now. Hokage-sama's next correspondence should be arriving shortly. It is far more advantageous to make this decision when we know more on the length of this assignment."

"Hai, Yotsugi-dono," Yuusuke-san replied, ignoring Nara-san's mumbled grumble of discontent. "Finally, Akimichi-san has reserved a table at Haven's Smokehouse in the Hyuuga Quarter for your use. He is currently holding it indefinitely and has offered to have a table on reserve in perpetuum for your personal use if you so desire."

"Thank Akimichi-san but decline both…"

"You know this whole assignment is becoming more trouble than it's worth," Nara-san interrupted, a soft thump reaching her ears as he dropped his feet from the couch.

"Pardon me, Nara-san, but we are in the middle of…"

"Yeah, I know important Hyuuga business," Nara-san interrupted again, a dismissive wave thrown in Yuusuke-san's direction before he continued. "I'm talking about how your important Hyuuga business seems to be what's keeping us here. And as much as I love standing in long empty corridors, somethings are just too troublesome for even me to be bothered with."

Yuusuke-san sputtered at the pointed comment, taking offense in Hinata's stead. "How dare you…" but Hinata didn't allow her retainer to finish, silencing him with the raise of her hand.

"I take it you are referring to some incident outside of our required duties," Hinata inquired instead, curious to the occurrence that had clearly irritated her partner enough to warrant whatever favor he was about to ask of her.

"Had an unfortunate run-in with one of your suitors. The irksome idiot tried to bribe me for information, which means I'm now going above and beyond our duties. Especially considering the circumstances that are currently keeping us detained here."

While Nara-san didn't outright say it, the implication was clear. Their current captivity was her fault. Her status the primary reason for their continued stay even if she suspected that the Hokage somehow benefited from it, and it did not slip her notice. Nor, unfortunately, did it escape Yuusuke-san's notice either.

"You common cur. You should be grateful for the opportunity to work with Yotsugi-dono. Perhaps if you weren't always sleeping, you'd actually learn something."

The sharp tone was bordering on an inappropriate display of emotion, but Nara-san did not react.

"I take it you'd like something in return?" Hinata inquired, ignoring her retainer in favor of addressing the issue at hand.

The slow moving air in the room shifted at Nara-san's nod, "Dinner doesn't sound like too troublesome a compromise. In fact, dinner at Haven's Smokehouse would do just nicely."

"You lazy, incompetent, piece of…"

"Enough," Hinata interrupted, her voice soft but firm as she admonished her retainer with one word. "Yuusuke-san please send a message accepting the table for one use," she continued before shifting her focus to her partner, his request after all was not unreasonable. "Tomorrow?" she questioned, more than ready to accommodate him for the difficulty their partnership had apparently placed on him.

"Nothing wrong with the present."

"We already ordered food!"

"Tonight will do. Yuusuke-san…" She let his name trail off, the order clearly understood.

"Hai, Yotsugi-dono."

Hinata shifted her attention away from her retainer as he readied to dash ahead of them to inform the restaurant, her mind briefly shifting to the box that still sat untouched by her desk before a light popping sound followed the heavy waft of smoke pulled her from her thoughts.

Hinata waited patiently for the smoke to clear, identifying the disturbance as a summons immediately even if the scent was foreign. Except…

'Ink and the crisp scent of earth and thick Fire Nation trees,' she thought as familiarity began to dawn. It reminded her distinctly of Uzumaki-kun. 'Hai, Uzumaki-kun and something wet but equally as earthy, a toad?'

"Hiya, Princess…" the voice of the new creature croaked, confirming her suspicions. "…and pineapple head?" the toad continued, its slight confusion easy to read in its higher pitched voice. "You don't look like a Hyuuga," the toad accused, a soft plop, plop sound following with each hop. "The boss man didn't say you'd be here," the toad continued pointedly, pausing only a moment before he moved on, hopping across her desk as he approached her. "Oh well, guess it doesn't really matter if you're here or not. I'm not here for you."

"Uzumaki-kun sent you?" Hinata questioned, the oddest sense of concern growing in the center of her chest.

"Oh, yeah," the toad replied, clearing his throat as he shifted fully towards her. "I'm Gamakichi, pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Princess. The boss man speaks highly of you."

Briefly, Hinata wondered when her friend had obtained a summoning contract, but ignored her mild curiosity in favor of addressing a far more pressing concern, "Is Uzumaki-kun well?"

"Oh yeah, top notch. He's great. Never shuts up, especially about you. I'm just his overqualified delivery toad," Gamakichi-san replied, allaying her concerns as he set an item in front of her. With light fingers, Hinata traced the edges, attempting to identify the item through touch a skill that she had become quite apt at. "You really are blind, huh?" the toad stated offhandedly as he hopped even closer, before tinkering with the package.

"I thought the boss man was crazy. Sending this. Seemed like too much work," he continued, the box popping open as he spoke, the latch having been on the opposite side. He paused breathing with some difficulty as he lifted the lid. "But, you know, I've seen the guy's handwriting, so I just figured he'd have to even if you could see," Gamakichi-san stated, pulling out something solid with a small huff. "Here ya go, Princess," he finished as he passed her the item.

Hinata recognized the gift as soon as it touched her hand. It was a recorder, although the purpose for it was not immediately clear.

"It's a letter," Gamakichi-san stated, answering her unspoken question. "I'm supposed to stick around until you've recorded your reply." The item delivered, he hopped away in the general direction of Nara-san. "Hey, you got anything to eat, I'm starved."

Finger lightly tracing the button she knew would play whatever recording Uzumaki-kun had left for her, Hinata hesitated before pressing down. Uzumaki-kun had clearly gone through the trouble of delivering his correspondence in such a way that she would be able to listen to it without assistance. It was very likely that he had meant it to be a private conversation. And now that she'd promised she'd treat her partner to an evening meal outside of the confines of their hotel room, she couldn't very well stay to listen to the recording now.

'I'm afraid you will have to wait, Uzumaki-kun,' she thought as she moved to gently set the recorder down on the surface of her desk. Recorder pressed flush with the cool surface, Hinata was a breath away from releasing the gift completely when her partner's voice stopped her.

"You know what? I'm too damn tired and it's much too troublesome for me to get all dressed up for a place like Haven's Smokehouse tonight. Why don't we just hit it tomorrow?"

Hinata nodded once, understanding that although Nara-san was still irked that he'd been inconvenienced he also didn't seem to mind giving her a moment to indulge in this one small gift. Her attention back on the small recorder, hand gripping it lightly as she lifted it from the surface of her desk, Hinata wondered what Uzumaki-kun had left her on the device. Holding the recorder softly in her grip, she realized for the first time just how much she missed the easy chatter of her friend.

There was a small scuffle at the door barely drawing her attention away from the small device held gently in her hand.

"I'll be back momentarily Yotsugi-dono with dinner," Yuusuke-san announced awkwardly as he opened the door.

"Yeah, and I feel like a short stroll under the stars. Gotta get out of this annoying room and stretch my legs," Nara-san announced. "Come on, toad."

She nodded her head, distractedly as the room cleared, and pressed play.

"Super Ninja note… ah shoot, this isn't a ninja note. Now I've got to start again." Uzumaki-kun's voice easily filled the air before getting cut off, the static of a continuous recording ending before picking up again a moment later.

"Super Awesome chronicles of the amazing Ninjas of Konoha part one." His voice filled the empty space again, pausing briefly before continuing as if from a distance. "That's kind of a mouthful boss man, you sure you're gonna remember that?" The question was quickly answered by the same, familiar cadence of Uzuamki-kun's voice even further in the distance before the recording cut off again. "I sure won't."

The static returned soon after as her friend attempted to begin his correspondence once more, "Okay for real this time. Awesome Ninja Letters part one: first message to my bestie!"

A warmth filled her chest as she listened to his enthusiasm, seemingly unending even as a static filled pause followed. She really had missed his boundless optimism.

Hesitantly, Uzumaki-kun continued, "Hey, I hope this letter, err, recording, finds you alright. I mean, you should be okay 'cause I haven't heard anything about explosions at the Fire Capital or dragons 'cause that's a thing."

"No it's not!" An identical voice in the distance interrupted with a shout only to be snapped by what Hinata could only assume was the original Uzumaki-kun.

"Shut up you! Of course it's a thing! Anyway, I haven't heard anything and Pervy Sage is always saying that you've got to keep your ears on the ground or whatever that means."

"Old pervert's insane is what that is!" Another one of Uzumaki-kun's clones shouted, almost pulling a slightly amused smile to her lips.

"Sooo," Uzumaki-kun continued, drawing the focus away from his clones and back to him as he spoke. "I hope you're alright and not like bored to tears because I'm almost at that point and I've got to say it ain't fun."

"You got that right boss man!"

"And I know we never really talked about sending letters, but you know, I just thought that you wouldn't mind. And you don't, right? Do you? Mind, I mean. 'Cause I figure if you're too busy I can stop.

Static filled the space between his words as he paused in his recording, hesitation creeping back into the distorted timbre of his voice.

"Anyway, it's too late to turn back now, so I figure I'd give you the low down on what's going on 'cause that's what Haku-chan is always asking me for. That and better books for Inari-kun but I don't see what's wrong with the ones he already has. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, I don't know what's wrong with the ones Haku-chan gives him."

"Yeah man, what's up with that!"

"A books a book, you know."

"Yeah, man, yeah."

"But enough about Haku-chan, I was supposed to be telling you about my training." Hinata nearly laughed at the odd stress he placed on the word 'training', the scoff threatening to pull a light chuckle from her as she continued to listen. "Ero-sannin is supposedly teaching me to use wind chakra."

"Yeah, right in-between whoring and drinking. If you don't have boobs he's not interested," Uzumaki-kun's clone complained, and Hinata could just hear the rustling of fabric as Uzumaki-kun himself nodded his agreement.

"Yeah, he's got us cutting leaves!" Uzumaki-kun growled at that, clearly unhappy with the task. "It's silly! How's it even training!?"

"Well it's hard like training."

"Yeah, sure is taking us forever to get it too."

"Well it wouldn't take us this long if the pervy sage only let me summon more clones," Uzumaki-kun defended to his clones, beginning to lose himself in argument.

"Yeah, we'd have it in no time with a little more help!" Uzumaki-kun's rustling fabric floated through the static again as he nodded vigorously, agreeing easily with his clone.

"But no, this is a stealth mission and apparently more than ten clones isn't stealthy," Uzumaki-kun continued to complain.

"It's like the old pervert is just trying to hold us back!"

"Yeah!" a chorus of identical voices flooded the recording as Uzumaki-kun and his clones came to a consensus.

"Yeah, no way I'm letting that happen! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, best friend to the most awesomest ninja in the world, and nothing holds me back!" That line drew another round of uproarious agreement before Uzuamki-kun continued. "Thanks, Hinata-hime, you're awesome at this peptalk thing. If only I can be as great as a clan head as you are, never letting anything hold you back, then the Uzumaki Clan will have nothing to worry about," Uzumaki-kun stated, the offhanded comment filling Hinata with such a warm sensation that her free hand involuntarily pressed against her chest.

Her friend was something else. His unwavering belief in her so different from what she was used to. So unlike the surety of her success that her clansmen and other noble officials held. This was something else, something more than their confidence. Uzumaki-kun showed a faith in her that she didn't think she deserved.

"So we're going to master that stupid wind chakra exercise, then we're going to master the next one and the next, then we're going to blow that pervert halfway across Fire Nation for ever doubting us 'cause we got this!"

"That's right boss man, we roll like Hinata-hime."

"Stone cold 'cause nothing's getting us down!"

"Believe it!" Uzumaki-kun excitedly replied, easily building off of his clones' excitement. Hinata could just imagine the shift in the air as he raised a challenging fist, daring anyone to doubt him. "Nothing's going to stop us now. And I mean it's not like we aren't making any progress on the leaf front. After all, we did discover that you apparently can shove a leaf clear through steel completely destroying an overpriced bathtub. I mean, who even pays that kind of price for a bathtub?"

"Yeah, Ero-sannin was really mad about that one."

"Oh that old pervert is just too sensitive."

"Exactly! I mean, who even spends that much time at a hotspring? You just get all pruney."

"I hear you, boss man."

"Yeah, and then you're uncomfortable for forever."

"Remember that one time I fell asleep in the tube?" Uzumaki-kun questioned, a slight shake in the recording that Hinata could only guess was some kind of shiver at the unpleasant memory.

"Oh yeah, not fun times. Not fun times…"

Hinata's thoughts drifted slightly as her friend quickly veered off topic, each sentence leaving his lips at a rapid pace that was so very Uzumaki-kun. It made her want to smile.

"…Of course it's not as if Ero-sannin is really using all those baths to get clean."

"I'm not sure that dirty old man has ever been clean let alone seen a bar of soap, boss man."

"Preach!"

"Yeah, man has clearly lost his mind. And to think he didn't believe me when I told him we were masters of disguise! Can you believe that Hinata-hime? Me, not a master of disguise! I mean I've infiltrated… uh… well… you know what nevermind about what I've infiltrated, just know I'm good."

"The best boss man, the best!"

"Yeah, not even the Hyuuga Police can see through my disguise and if they can't than no one can. Believe it!"

A paused filled the static once more, the image of another dynamic pose thrown at a clearing filled with his clones coming to the forefront of Hinata's mind.

"Anyway, this has probably gone on too long. I'll let you get back to your work. Don't let those boring meetings get you down. And I don't care what anyone says, you'll be clan head in no time. Just remember rule number one, never give up!"

Hinata sighed as the message came to an end, resisting the urge to immediately rewind it so that she could hear it again. Uzumaki-kun had so much faith in her, and here she was not doing everything possible to uncover the Hokage's worrisome agenda. Now was not the time to allow anything to come between her and protecting her Clan.

Hesitantly, Hinata reached out to the box that lay beside her desk, fingers sliding across the worn volumes for the first time since they'd come into her possession. She paused on the last journal, the binding barely worn and steeled herself to pull it out, to slip it onto her desk so that she would have no excuse when Yuusuke-san returned, but she still couldn't bring herself to look at the last words her father had written before he was taken from her. There was comfort in ignorance that she could not bring herself to relinquish.

So instead, she moved to the opposite end of the box, pulling the first volume from its place to lay it on her desk. She would start with Hanza-dono's written accounts, sure that such an historic founder of the current Hyuuga Clan would have some advice that would be of use without dredging up memories better left to rest. She had sworn to protect her Clan, but there was still only so much she could bare before she fell apart, before she completely split from the cracks that were slowly growing in her once rock solid foundation. Uzumaki-kun had inspired her, reminded her of who she was supposed to be, but that didn't change who she was now. And at this rate, she feared nothing would.

* * *

 _AN:_ Howdy all. We hope you enjoyed this. And just in case you were wondering. The calendar new year Hinata mentioned earlier in this chapter is the Chinese New Year. So don't worry Fire Lord, that's definitely a good enough reason to through a party. At least, it is in my book. See you soon.


	8. Interlude I

_**Interlude I: Awesome Ninja Letters, Part 1**_

 **22 AI (28 Feb) – Hinata letter to Naruto (L1)**

"The twenty eighth of February of the founder's year one hundred and three at 2150 hours."

"Uzumaki-kun, I was pleased to receive your letter. I only regret that I could not respond sooner. You are undeniably correct in your assumption that I find myself entrenched in an increasing amount of work as time proceeds; however, please do not allow that fact to deter you from creating additional correspondence. I welcome the breaks your letter permits to my busy schedule."

"Currently, my days are filled with informative meetings with the Daimyo while I work tirelessly to complete all relevant Hyuuga business at night. In the morning, of course, I train diligently as the sun rises, but the majority of the day is spent in what you would call 'boring' meetings and events. As of this moment, I have attended two of the Daimyo's state dinners, the second of which was the primary reason for this delayed reply to your well received correspondence. Unfortunately, there is little of substance at these gatherings that I can impart on you, although I can assure you that you would not find enjoyment in these soirees."

"From you letter, it appears as if you are partaking in quite the adventure. One of which I find I am quite envious as Nara-san and myself seem unable to quit the city. Please, do not be alarmed by this fact. I am in good health. As of yet, I have not been accosted by dragons. At least not dragons of any physical nature; however, the Daimyo has expressed an ardent interest in keeping us in the city. It was, of course, a request that I could not refuse."

There was a measured paused that had Naruto smiling. After all, the small space of silence was just as calm as he remembered her being. It was almost like he was right beside her, watching as she took a moment to collect her thoughts.

"It appears that you seem troubled by your inability to fulfill Haku-san's request for appropriate literature for young Inari-san. Perhaps, I can be of some assistance in this endeavor? What literacy goal does Haku-san have in mind for Inari-san's education? How old is Inari-san? And what is his current literacy level? It may also enhance the usefulness of my advice if I also know the books you have already gifted the young boy. In my limited experience, I have found that Hanabi-chan prefers to read books in series focusing on similar thematic issues. Perhaps Inari-san has a similar preference."

Another small pause filled the air as Naruto waited for the recording to continue.

"It pleases me to hear that your training is progressing nicely. I am confident that you will achieve mastery over the leaf cutting exercise without delay. As you may already know, wind chakra affiliation is a rare element among Konoha ninja; however, I find that it suits you greatly. I will have to find more time to advance my own elemental training so as to not fall behind."

"As for your mastery of disguise, I do hope you are not referring to the infiltration of the Hyuuga Military Police Force security buildings during the Fire Festival of the founder's year one hundred and one. If you were admitting to some wrong doing then I would be forced to report such involvement; however, I am confident you had nothing to do with that particular risk to Konoha security."

"Unfortunately, I will need to end our correspondence here as the day grows closer to a close. I look forward to your next correspondence. Sincerely…"

This time the pause held for longer, until a softer voice replied with one word, "Hinata."

* * *

 **23 AI (1 Mar) – Naruto to Hinata (L2)**

"Okay so Awesome Ninja Letters Part 2."

"Hey bossman, did you really have to start with that?"

"Yeah, seems silly when you say it after Hinata-hime's letter."

A thin brow rose at the sound of rustling fabric filled the recording static, mildly amused at the start of her friend's correspondence.

"Ahem," Uzumaki-kun's throat cleared before he began again, "Okay now that we're alone, Super Awesome Ninja letter part 2. It sounds just fine to me…" The last part was said softly, almost as if he'd mumbled it under his breath likely forgetting that the recorder was still held close to his mouth.

It was very like the friend she remembered.

"Don't worry about the wait, Hinata-hime. I know you're like super busy so it's okay. I'm mean what kind of best friend would I be if I didn't understand? A sucky one that's for sure, and I'm the most awesomest, super understanding best friend there is! Yoshi!" A woosh of air filled the recording with static which Hinata assumed meant her energetic friend had leapt into the air as he was sometime prone to do.

"Anyway, you sound super busy, so I'm just glad you could fit me into your day." There was a soft pause, the silence filled with a calmness that spoke of a gentle smile.

"Busy and boreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed. And hey, I know you said you were okay, but I've seen death by boring meetings and lectures before. Or well, I've experienced death by boring lectures before. And let me tell you, they're a total snooze fest. And then of course you get in trouble for falling asleep! Like it was your fault that the guy droned on and on and on!"

"And you know the punishment is just more boring lectures. Hey, do you know that trick to sleeping with your eyes open? I can't ever get away with it, but I've seen Shikamaru do it once or twice. Nah, I just pinch myself over and over again, which doesn't always work. I just can't win! This one time…"

Hinata listening as Uzumaki-kun's voice prattled on, fighting against a smile at his antics. After the week she'd had, she'd needed this. Needed the comfort of a familiar voice even if the topic was a banal as falling asleep during an Academy lecture.

"…And of course Sensei didn't believe my excuse about the dragon so there I was stuck listening to yet another boring lecture! Anyway, so yeah. Death by boredom is a real thing, and you my friend are getting dangerously close. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, you're more like a hostage except not tied up or anything. Dang, what was that word."

A long pause filled the space, the recording static broken up with the occasional low muttered word, inaudible through the device.

"Political! Yeah, it sounds like you're that old Fire pant's political hostage. Which should be like a crime or something! Really, Jiji ought to put a stop to that. You're his ninja! And Konoha needs you to not gouged out your eyes from sheer boredom!"

"But maybe the old man doesn't have as much power as I thought. You know, there's got to be a reason why he's got me out here looking for his replacement, which is a complete waste of my considerable talents by the way. Who better to battle boredom with you than me!"

"Or, you know, maybe it's something else…"

Another long pause followed, leaving the recording in broken static.

"Anyway, I wouldn't call this mission so much an adventure, but more an exercise in patience. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't want to set Ero-sannin's cloths on fire. That old pervert is just using me as a chick magnet! Just the other day, he ditched me for a bunch of ladies, who were fawning over me! I was getting quality information about the town, and he ruined it with his perversion!"

"First he limits my clone usage and now he barely even trains me. Just tells me to do this very vague thing, like today I'm supposed to light a ball on fire with a single seal. So of course with that stellar explanation and advice I blow it up in his face, because, as it turned out I was doing it all wrong in the first place! And it seems like a complete waste not to just make a seal that destroys. I mean, what's the point of lighting something on fire anyway?"

"Haku-chan says I just have to work through it all. Train hard and the understanding will come later, but he was trained by Zabuza and that guy was crazy." The last word was spoken at a near whisper, a brief pause filling the space before the rustling of fabric followed. "Not that it's Haku-chan's fault. He's really a nice guy. Actually, I think you'd like Haku-chan. You're both really serious practically all of the time. I mean really, you've got to learn to take a break sometime, Hinata-hime. And you're both crazy smart, I mean like wow smart. Like even smarter than Sakura smart and as much as I hate to admit it, Sakura's smart. And of course you're both really pretty. Well, you're prettier than Haku-chan, but you're a princess so that's not really surprising. Princesses are all really pretty. It's like a requirement or something. At least, I think that's was Daiji-san said…"

Uzumaki-kun hummed quietly to himself before continuing on with what she imagined was a wave of his hand. "Anyway, I think you'd like Wave too. The people are real nice and friendly. And you can see the ocean for miles. We're building our Compound there too. Just wait until you see it, Hinata-hime. It'll be so great. It will be awesome. I mean, nothing as grand as the Hyuuga Compound, but Haku-chan tells me it's right on the water, clear oceans for miles with the bridge just off in the distance and Wave tucked safe behind it. And all the little orphans that are already camped out on the beach, ready to have a real place to stay that's safe and comfortable and warm and surrounding be people that care. Yeah. It's going to be great…"

"They, ah, they want to make me a statue…" His voice broke in an uncomfortable fit of nervous laughter. "I can't believe it, can you?"

A pause followed, the soft rustling of fabric as he shifted. "Oh yeah, I'm alone. Yeah, well. If they were here, the clones would be going on and on about it. When we first found out they had a field day with it. First they couldn't believe it, sure Haku-chan was pulling a prank on us. Then they couldn't decide what the statue could possible be of, which lead into a long argument on which was our best side."

A soft sigh punctuated the next pause before her friend continued. "I'm not sure what to do. Haku-chan didn't say anything, but I could tell that the villagers really want to do this, but I'm… Do you have statues? In the Hyuuga Compound? I didn't have time to look that last time I was there."

The long static filled silence pulled at something in her chest. A feeling she wasn't familiar with, but knew immediately she did not enjoy. It was…

"On a completely unrelated note, Haku-chan was not a fan of the last book we sent Inari-kun. You're right about us being at our wits end with this one. So, any help would be super duper appreciated. Little Inari-kun is like seven or maybe he's eight now… Ah, I can't remember. Oh and well, I've got no idea about the other questions. I'll ask Haku-chan, he'll know for sure. As for the books we already got him, the first one was algebra one, because that was the best book I've ever read. Really thought we'd nailed it on the head with that one, but Haku-chan wasn't all that pleased with is, we're still not sure why. Algebra was simple, way better than geometry and any of the calculus texts. And you can use it for everything!"

Another pause followed, silent but for the slight rush of wind that could have been the shake of his head. "Yeah, still just me out here," he muttered lowly before continuing. "Anyway, we just bought him a nice book about the Sun and the Moon with a lot of pictures, way more than the algebra book since that was Haku-chan's biggest complaint. How were we supposed to know that there was such a thing as too many pictures? I just don't get it, how can I win…"

"Anyway, any help would be great…" He sighed before trudging on. "Not that I see how books help with being a ninja. I played ninja games, and applied my skills to extracurricular activities. Ero-sannin even thinks that makes me a pretty decent ninja! Oh, oh… and I even played board games with Shikamaru, for strategy. He's not half bad at Go and Shogi. You should ask him to play. While he's pretty lazy in general, he livens up when you challenge him to a game, especially shogi he loves that one. But I like playing Go with him more. I win more in that one."

"As for the Fire Festival incident, I'll have you know I was wrongfully arrested. In fact, the bossman himself, Hizashi, gave me a formal apology for that unpleasantness. Besides, I'm sure whoever committed such an amazing, thought provoking prank, did the Hyuuga Police a favor. I'm mean, imagine if someone of nefarious intent had taken advantage of those unfortunate flaws in the building structure and power systems. No seems like he… I mean, that person, did the security of the Hyuuga and Konoha a favor."

"Oi, brat. Stop talking to your girlfriend, we've got work to do!"

"She not my girlfriend, you old geezer, she's better! My best friend. And you can wait! I was working all day before you showed up!" Uzumaki-kun shouted before returning his voice to his normal cadence. "Sorry Hinata-hime, I've got to go see what the pervert wants this time. Talk to you later!"

* * *

 **25 AI (3 Mar) – Hinata to Naruto (L2)**

"The third of March of the founder's year one hundred and three at 2220 hours."

"Uzumaki-kun, it would appear that Nara-san and I will be remaining in the capital for the foreseeable future. In that regard, Tatsuki-san arranged for our relocation to one of the formerly empty Hyuuga Clan apartments. The move was quick and efficient; however, as we had anticipated a significantly abbreviated stay within the city, there were a number of items that required procurement from Konoha. The last of those articles arrived this morning while I was otherwise engaged with the Daimyo."

"The conversation was… less than satisfactory; however, I do not fault the Daimyo for his efforts. Takekasai-dono has only the fervent desire to be helpful. His motivations pure and transparent. The same, I dread, cannot be said for the Hokage-sama."

(A pause, a short breath of thought)

"Of course, given the role the Hokage-sama exercised in my father's…passing, there exists the real possibility that my perceptions of the situation may be negatively colored. As such, I seek your honest opinion on the Hokage-sama's motivations. Perhaps the high regard at which you hold the Hokage-sama will illuminate the purpose of his continued inaction. Certainly, there exists some reasoning that does not conflict with the best interests of Konoha."

(A pause)

"That issue aside, I find I must agree with your colorful characterization of the situation. You can, in fact, say that Nara-san and I are the Daimyo's political hostages. Certainly, we are not afforded the same opportunity to decline an invitation as would suggest otherwise. There is, of course, little use in dwelling upon this fact. As it stands, with the Hokage-sama's direct interference, there is nothing that can be done to rectify the situation."

"That said, not all of the topics the Daimyo deems appropriate are without interest. Currently, we are on our second day of the topic of land rights and water usage. It is a subject that you might find useful as you begin construction of the Uzumaki Clan Compound, however, I doubt you would enjoy the manner in which it is discussed. Of course, if you believe it will be in your best interest to still learn the subject, then I shall summarize the lesson on a separate recording as my schedule permits."

(pause)

"Given your… artful comparison between Haku-san and myself, I am sure I shall find Haku-san more than agreeable. Certainly, a conversation between the two of us shall be greatly stimulating upon our next meeting."

(pause, longer than the last)

"Your efforts together, I fine laudable. To build a Clan, a family from so little. You think so highly of the Hyuuga, however, the Hyuuga have existed in virtually the same iteration for centuries. Do not doubt what you are accomplishing, Uzumaki-kun. For I would be honored to step through the arch of such a safe haven. I look forward to the day when we can walk the completed halls of the Uzumaki Compound together."

"Unfortunately, I cannot offer any guidance on the villagers of Wave's desires to construct a statue in your likeness. Of the Ten Noble Families only one holds the practice of immortalizing one's likeness in stone socially acceptable. With the exception of the Valley of New Beginnings, there exist no statue of a member of the First Family in Fire Nation. If, however, the idea makes you uncomfortable, then I suggest you continue with your current course of action and delay the project. I am confident that the people of Wave will understand."

"On a slightly different note, the information you sent in your last correspondence concerning Inari-san is more than adequate for suggested literature. As Inari-san is of similar age to Hanabi-chan, I have a list of a number of appropriate works that he may enjoy already prepared. If it is appropriate, I will have Yuusuke-san send copies to him directly."

(Pause, thoughtful)

"Since your last correspondence, I have taken your advice and challenged Nara-san to a game of shogi. You were correct in your assessment of his abilities. Nara-san is quite talented in the art of strategy. If time permits, we shall play a game of go tomorrow. I anticipate that the activity will be as equally as rewarding as our previous game of shogi."

"Given your own unique abilities, I imagine a game against you, Uzumaki-kun, will be equally as rewarding. Perhaps, we shall have the opportunity to play one another in the near future. Ji-sama, or the bossman as you so eloquently put it, always encourages the collection of different perspectives. In fact, there seem to be many instances of unresolved antics that were for the betterment of the village.

"It is unfortunate that the true culprit of the Fire Festival incident thought to use you in the execution of their stunt. Considering your extensive record and propensity for the color orange, it is understandable how Ji-sama mistook the perpetrator for you. They proved to be particularly clever in displaying only positive phrasings about you, Uzumaki-kun, as all the circumstantial evidence pointed towards you. Although, I do agree that the incident did lead to the improvement of the structural integrity of the Towers; however, had the culprit come forward, more could have been done in that endeavor."

(pause, shuffling the in background)

"Forgive me, Uzumaki-kun, but the hour grows later still and unfortunately there is much to be done come first light. Until our next correspondence. Sincerely…Hinata."


	9. Legendary Loser

**AN:** Back to Naruto! By the by, how'd you like that interlude? We went back and forth on what to do for interludes and ended up with the letters. And yes, there will be more. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Japanese words are as follows:

 _Tokkuri_ \- is the container for sake (flask), the cups are ochoko/choko (more of a culture note, but I don't have time to added the details)

 _Matte ne_ \- wait…

 _Na.. nani_ \- wha… what!

PS. We are still making no money from this…

* * *

Arc – Transition of Power

Chapter Seven – Legendary Loser

Tonton squirmed in Shizune's arms, her tiny pink body attempting to avoid the rancid puff of tobacco-laced smoke as it blew in their faces. "I know, Tonton, I know. But with any luck your mommy will be done soon," she whispered down to the small pig absentmindedly tightening her grip, her gaze never fully leaving the dirty little gambling bar in which her Mistress had deemed more than appropriate to satisfy both of her favorite vices.

Despite it being only a little past noon, the room was dark and fairly packed, windows shuttered leaving only the lamp light to illuminate the smoke filled room as patrons shuffled between various games. Of course, given where they'd found themselves this time, the small backwater town off the beaten path for just about everyone except for various smuggling rings, it really shouldn't have been all that surprising. Certainly not when this particular grimy little hole in the wall was about as likely to have an actual gambling license as Master Jiraiya was to stop being a peeping tom.

Not that she'd seen her Mistress' teammate in some years, but like her mentor and friend, some people just didn't change, especially not when it came to their favorite vices. But that was fine. Good even, at least from a mental health standpoint. At the end of the day, the stresses that weighed heavily on her fellow ninja required some kind of outlet to remain sane.

Something that would take them away from the near constant death and destruction that could seep into a once healthy mind and rot it until nothing recognizable was left. As it was, a shinobi could go completely mad if they failed to find at least one alternate form of release that wasn't the constant drag of training and fighting and missions. Vice or virtue, it didn't really matter as long as it got them off the battlefield or training grounds for longer than a few hours.

Tonton whined in her arms, her little nose digging into Shizune's shoulder as she protested their move further into the smoky bar. She held the little pig closer, a gentle hand soothing her discomfort as she whispered into the little pig's ears, "Don't worry Tonton, knowing your mother's luck she'll be running out of money and credit very soon." Turning away from the pig, she continued under her breath, "Which is just another problem for another time."

Surveying the scene with practiced ease, Shizune allowed her years as a Jounin, years following one of the three legendary sannin, and years of near constant vigilance against her Mistress' many debt collectors take control. Every detail was categorized. Every sight and scent, no matter how unfortunate, was analyzed. Every action was burned into her memory, no matter how much she would rather not have the image of grown men scratching at their exposed butt cracks and shoving clearly unwashed fingers up their noses permanently etched into her memory. Nothing escaped her highly trained gaze no matter how much she wished some of it would.

Of course, she wasn't just looking for the signs of a skilled shinobi. A first thorough glance had told her there weren't any in the room. No, what had her rapid attention was an entirely different kind of predator. One in which she was unfortunately intimately familiar. He or she would look plain and unassuming, frail even as they hunched over an untouched drink. Eyes weakened by years of reading in low light and hunting in dank bars meant that there would likely be thick wire frames hiding surprisingly sharp eyes, eyes that were beyond keen. Eyes that would spot her Mistress in seconds if given the opportunity. No, what held Shizune's unwavering attention was her search for the ever persistent debt collector. Or even the occasional creditor brought out to collect her Mistress' debt if it was large enough to warrant at least some form of mistrust for the middleman as it, _unfortunately_ , normally was.

'But at least the last few weeks have been relatively quiet,' Shizune thought as her gaze landed on an excessively overweight patron as he reached for one of the pretty servers as she passed. Thankfully, he was already well past inebriated and the young girl slipped easily around his meaty hand without any trouble.

Gaze shifting away from the scene, Shizune remembered the surprisingly good fortune that had allowed her to pay off a majority of her Mistress' creditors. While she certainly hadn't condoned such a risky wager (she had in fact been vehemently opposed to the bet), Lady Tsunade's winnings from the Chuunin Exam Finals had been rather substantial.

'Substantial but certainly not nearly enough to fund her habit,' she thought with a sigh, mentally calculating how much debt her Mistress had already managed to incur within the last week alone. 'If only Lady Tsunade knew when to cash in her chips and give it a rest for awhile, then I wouldn't currently be on the lookout for more debt collectors.'

She almost wished she'd been able to convince her Mistress not to place that absolutely ridiculous bet on Uzumaki-san. Maybe then Konoha, their home, wouldn't have been attacked. And better yet, maybe Lady Tsunade would not currently be on such a reckless bender (she refused to call it a roll when her Mistress hadn't won a single bet, wager or game in the entire month following the attack on Konoha).

But despite her very strong arguments against that impossible wager, her Mistress had placed it. And her Mistress had been one of the very few winners of the longest shot bet in the history of the Chuunin Exams.

Rationally, with the disaster that had followed Tsunade-sama's lucky win, they should have gone back to Konoha. Should have rushed back to assist with the wounded because Kami-sama only knew what state the Konoha Medical Corps had degraded to in her Mistress' absence. Their expertise would have been more than needed. And with the body count alone…

Shizune shivered at the number that had made its way to them. Rumored or not, it was just too high. She could only imagine how much that number had continued to climb without their assistance. Even more than a month later, she knew there was still something they could do to at least ease the suffering, to prevent even more loss.

But her Mistress was just too cynical to care. She'd even nearly snapped at her when Shizune had attempted to gently remind her mentor of one of the first lessons Tsunade-sama had ever taught her. After all, the needs of the many did outweigh the needs of the few or the one especially in this case. But, apparently, Shizune had sounded far too much like Hokuto-sama for her Mistress' comfort.

So instead they'd trekked even farther away from the village so that her Mistress could burn through money they no longer had. "But at least Hokage-sama is safe, Tonton. And Hokuto-sama as well. Your mommy wouldn't have been able to handle a loss like that. Not again." She spoke softly, her gaze finally settling on her Mistress, cheeks flushed red and blue eyes half glazed, fully expecting to see her playing with credits by now. It was slowly approaching that time in the day when they'd have to relocate, her Mistress' line of credit so large that no one at the table would take her bet.

Which was probably why she was so surprised at the actual sight before her, a large stack of ryo which was apparently steadily growing if the collective groans from the table were anything to go by. Tsunade-sama, the legendary loser, was winning… again.

'Oh no. This can't be happening. Not this soon,' Shizune thought worriedly as she quickly surveyed the room once more. Clearly she'd missed something. Something far more nefarious than a few debt collectors because something horrible was on the horizon. Unfortunately, there was nothing new to spot on a second critical look for enemies. There was only the curious pop of brown hair bobbing up and down between tables, cleaning the sticky mess of morning drunkards when he should have been in some kind of school. And the busboy was certainly nothing that would cause a legendary sannin any trouble.

With a small sigh, Shizune turned her gaze back to her friend, who was unfortunately one of those messy morning drunkards. With a pile of ryo by her side, large bills from the looks of it, removing said friend from the building was going to be a near impossible chore. But she could at least return some sobriety to the situation, that certainly might speed up the process.

Striding forward, Tonton still held gently in her arms, Shizune approached the table. Shifting her Mistress' small pig in her grasp, she freed up a hand just enough to pull the warm bottle of sake away. Her mentor batted distractedly at Shizune's arm, but didn't protest, too focused on her gambling buddy as he stepped away from the table, hat in hand.

"Alright, that's it for me. I know when I'm out," the man said, pushing his seat in as Shizune liberated the half full tokkuri from her Mistress.

"Come on Taro-san, don't step out now, the games just getting good," Tsunade-sama stated, her hand missing the man's arm in her overly intoxicated state and brushing lightly against Shizune's hip instead.

"No, not for me," the newly identified Taro-san said as he slipped on his hat, nodding once in Lady Tsunade's direction.

"I'm going to step out too," the other man at the table stated, cheeks just as rosy as her Mistress. "Wife's going to kill me as it is, I shouldn't make it worse," he said as he stood from his spot at the table. "But who would have thought, the Legendary Loser winning hand after hand," he continued wistfully, a shake of his head as he stepped away. "Wife's never going to believe that one," he finished under his breath, Shizune just close enough to catch it.

"Just not my lucky day," Taro-san added as he finally turned to leave.

Shizune frowned at the comment, 'It's not our lucky day either. No, this can't be a good omen.'

"No, no. Stay. I can't keep winning forever," Tsunade-sama urged, attempting to convince her gambling partners one last time. Thankfully, both men declined with another shake of their heads, and Shizune saw the chance for what it was. The perfect opportunity to finally pry her Mistress away from the gambling table, at least for the day.

"Actually, I think we'd better head out too. Don't want to test this lucky streak now do we?" Slipping the tokkuri on the table behind her, Shizune shifted Tonton around in her arms again, ready to bodily pull her Mistress from the seedy bar if she had to, which in all likelihood would be the case. 'We could pay off both Yutaka-san and Toshi-san with this. Be debt free again. For as long as that will last,' Shizune thought as she eyed her Mistress' earnings once more.

"No, Shizune-chan," Tsunade-sama protested, drunkenly brushing off the hand that gripped her shoulder. "Just a couple more hands, then we can go," she continued slumping lower into her seat.

"There's no one left to play with you, Tsunade-sama," Shizune countered as she slipped an arm around her Mistress' waist, gently pulling the inebriated woman from the empty table. "Come on, let's go."

"Matte ne," a new group of patrons called out, drawing the attention of her Mistress as they moved to sit down. "I don't believe the greatest loser of all times can keep it up. Deal me in."

At that, Tsunade-sama sobered a little, just enough to pull out of Shizune's hold and settle her red rimmed gaze on her new challengers. "Now, that's what I'm talking about." Her Mistress grinned recklessly before turning to the nearest bartender, "Round of sake on me."

The roar of deafening laughter that followed sank Shizune's once risen spirits. She knew when she'd lost, it was just so disappointing when she'd come so close to getting her Mistress to do something responsible for once.

Turning towards her, Lady Tsunade took Tonton from her arms, holding her pet pig closely as she spoke, "You'll be my good luck charm won't you, Tonton-chan." The pig nuzzled her mother in response as Shizune sighed at the sight. If she was lucky, Tonton would prove to be just as much as a losing pig as she always was. That was, if they had any luck.

Reluctantly, Shizune slipped away from the table, mind already occupied with worry. What could possibly be out there lurking on the horizon that was so horribly unfortunate that her Mistress would be doing so well in all her bets? What was the new threat? Was it war? The obvious choice given the circumstances.

And sure, she thought that the prospects of another bloody, angry ninja world war was high. The tensions between Kumo and Konoha had only intensified over the last decade. Destitution made even the most rational of men desperate and angry and willing to do terrible things. But impending war couldn't be what lurked in their future. Not when it was one, maybe two years away, sooner if the Hokage didn't try to find some kind of diplomatic solution. It was worrisome, but not immediate. It was…

"Oh," Shizune gasped as a small body collided with her own. Dishes clattered to the floor, and a heavy earthen serving tray clanked hard before sliding just out of reach.

"Ouch," a small voice grumbled as he stared helplessly at his scattered tray. It was the little busboy. Strange, she hadn't seen him coming.

"I'm so sorry," Shizune apologized as she bent over, ready to help the boy pick up his things. She handed a dirty wooden bowl to him as he shook his head already waving off her apology.

"No, it's okay. Really. I should have been paying more attention," he stated, taking the bowl and setting it back on the tray along with the rest of his fallen dishes. "Really, I should know better."

"Still, I am sorry…" she continued with a small smile at the awkwardly charming boy. Trailing off, she waited for him to give her a name.

"Oh no, don't worry about it…" Instead he jumped right into an explanation of why it wasn't a problem, prattling on about some of the rowdier customers in a telling that used his entire body.

Allowing the brown haired boy to continue on his tangent, Shizune eyed him critically. He was young, completely out of place among the slimy day drinkers, her Mistress included. And there were certainly plenty of other places he should have been, in class being the key one.

'He certainly doesn't belong among this crowd,' Shizune thought with a light frown. Personally, Shizune preferred when her Mistress indulged in her vices this early in the morning. Of course that didn't change the fact that well before noon drinkers were not the type of people that a young impressionable child should be surrounded by.

That said, day drinking was really the lesser of two evils. While she abhorred the habit, the general lack of other patrons normally meant that her Mistress lost less money. Even better, the usual clientele this early in the day were generally the stingy pathetic variety with little in the way to bet away. So, when Tsunade-sama lost, and she always lost, she didn't normally lose big. And the sooner she lost, the sooner Shizune could pry her Mistress away from the gambling tables and with any luck, she could do it before happy hour. After happy hour, well, Lady Tsunade was in it for the long haul.

Even so, that didn't explain why this boy was here instead of in class. He was young, sure that much was obvious. And his clothes, second-hand, threadbare and poorly fitted onto his wire thin frame, pointed at a rather unfortunate reason for him to be here instead of learning some valuable skill that could lift him out of poverty. Clearly, he was working because his family couldn't afford otherwise.

'Unless this is all a ruse,' Shizune thought. Knowing as she did that it wasn't all that difficult to fake the appearance of poverty, at least not for a trained ninja or grifter. Her eyes scanned his form closely for any sign of deception, but the boy was just a little too thin and a little too small both signs of mild malnutrition which were much harder to fake. And then there was the barely there crack in his voice, the beginnings of puberty as it just started to break. There was no way he was older than thirteen, but she'd met gifted ninja younger than that. He could easily be one of them.

Still she wasn't getting any particularly malicious vibes from him. He just seemed to be a boy with a habit of running off into extremely long tangents. And yes, it was odd for him to be here, for her to have bumped into him without some kind of warning, but he really didn't seem to have any ill will towards her so she'd let her suspicions go.

After all, everything else seemed to fit. She couldn't detect even the smallest hint of a genjutsu, so his brown hair and dark brown eyes were his own. And based on the length of his femur, he seemed to be the appropriate height. His voice originating from the correct place on his body, she really couldn't find anything wrong with him not even in the loose, easy and unconcerned way he held himself. If he was a trained assassin, then he was clearly unafraid of death or completely overconfident given his lax posture. She'd be able to overpower him in seconds if he even tried to make a move now. No. In all likelihood, he was probably just an underfed boy, untrained in the art of the ninja.

"…So, when a pretty Nee-san like yourself knocks me over, it's definitely an improvement on my day," he finally finished, his fallen items all collected and balanced atop his tray.

"Is that so?"

He nodded eagerly, a wide smile on his face that easily coaxed an equally wide smile to her own. "You know, I'm not sure I got your name in all of that."

He blinked before slapping himself on the head. Laughing nervously, his smile widened a little in embarrassment. "It's Haru, and it's a pleasure to meet you. Jiji's always telling me not to forget that," he replied with a slightly nervous bow of his head.

She tilted her own head in greeting, "Shizune. It's a pleasure." She'd have to rephrase her first thought, his lack of manners, while endearing, could only mean he was an orphan, which better explained why he was working here of all places instead of studying in class.

His smile widen once again, before looking back the way she'd come. Shizune followed his gaze to her Mistress who was visibly in a good mood while the men around her seemed to be frowning in concentration. Shizune worried about his interest, tensing minutely.

"Hey, Nee-san?"

"Hai, Haru-san?"

He scratched his head in confusion, "Why's everyone calling Baa-san a loser? She hasn't lost once, and I would know." There he paused, pointing to his chest as he continued, "I helped open today." He nodded seriously, making sure she understood how responsible he was. "So I'd definitely know, you know 'cause she's practically been here all day. And Baa-san doesn't seem like a Legendary Loser to me."

Shizune relaxed at the question, he didn't know who her Mistress was then. "Well, normally my companion's luck doesn't run so well."

"Oh yeah? Well it's nice of you to still support your partner. You're way nicer than Mr. Bacha's wife. She gets real mad when he loses all the time."

She nodded absentmindedly acknowledging his statement before realizing what Haru-san had assumed about her relationship with her Mistress. Blushing brightly at the assumption, she rushed to correct the boy, "Na…nani? We're not like that!"

"Huh?"

Calming down, the heat slowly leaking from her still red face, she tried again to clarify the situation, "I mean that Tsunade-sama is my mentor, my teacher, not my life partner. Not that there's anything wrong with that, except for I'm sure Lady Tsunade would make a horrible life partner what with all the drinking and gambling and occasional cursing when she's on a particularly nasty losing streak. And…" She forced herself to shut up, realizing that she was just rambling in her embarrassment.

"Oh? So, you're not seeing anyone then?" he questioned, batting his large brown eyes up at her causing her to smile in return.

"Unfortunately for you, I do have a height requirement."

At that statement his wide grin transformed into a pout forcing a soft laugh from Shizune's lips at the sight. "Shouldn't you be in class? I'm sure you'd find some pretty girls your age there."

He shrugged. "Gotta eat," he admitted nonchalantly. "I don't have time for classes and stuff like that." He looked away, gaze landing back on her Mistress almost longingly. Shizune followed his gaze, but his face didn't move with Tsunade-sama. No, on closer inspection he seemed to be looking at Tonton. "Besides, you don't need school to sweep floors or wash dishes. Don't need any help with those either," he grumbled. Clearly, what school work he did end up doing was giving him some difficulties.

"No, I suppose you don't." She paused then, looking him over for a moment before extending an offer. He seemed, after all, perfectly harmless. A little lonely, but definitely harmless. "Why don't you bring your homework to our motel room? I can help you with the tough problems." He looked like he was going to refuse, his gaze shifting back to Tonton. "And, you can play with Tonton."

"Tonton, the pig?" he asked hopefully.

"Hai, she's very cuddly."

He smiled wide in response. Opening his mouth to reply, but was interrupted before he could say anything.

"Oi! Haru, stop yapping to the customers and get back to work. I don't pay you to slack off."

"Hai!" he replied, jumping a little in his spot, before running off. "Oh yeah," he said before stopping halfway to the back room. "Dinner's on you, Nee-san," he replied, throwing the statement over his shoulder before hurrying the rest of the way across the room.

* * *

"Super Awesome chronicles of the amazing Ninjas of Konoha part one…"

One hand ghosted lightly across the small buttons of the recorder, easily finding the right one Naruto clicked once, the tape whining as it sped through his own words. He wasn't listening for that.

"That's kind of a mouthful boss man," he mumbled, eyes rolling as he mimetic his clone's words. While he liked starting from the beginning, some parts still annoyed him.

Fingers fiddling with the small machine, he shifted his thumb to hit play.

"Uzumaki-kun, I was pleased to receive your letter. I only regret that I could not respond sooner… " Hinata-hime's voice floated from the machine and he nodded to himself once, congratulating himself on getting so close to the start of her letter. He hadn't missed anything important.

A sigh slipped past his lips as he listened to her apology like it did every time he heard it. Of course he knew she was busy. She didn't need to be sorry for that. Absentmindedly, he allowed her words to wash over him as he remembered his original response. How he'd taken the time to assure her that she didn't need to apologize for anything. He was just happy to hear her voice.

"…From you letter, it appears as if you are partaking in quite the adventure. One of which I find I am quite envious as Nara-san and myself seem unable to quit the city. Please, do not be alarmed by this fact. I am in good health. As of yet, I have not been accosted by dragons. At least not dragons of any physical nature, however, the Daimyo has expressed an ardent interest in keeping us in the city. It was, of course, a request that I could not refuse…"

Naruto grumbled quietly to himself. Upset on his best friend's behalf as he listened to her description of what could only be forced captivity. He sighed at the thought wondering again why Jiji couldn't seem to do anything about it. He was upset, not really at Jiji or the Daimyo, but at himself. He couldn't do anything to help his best friend. He was here, and she was there. At least they had these messages. He knew he enjoyed them. Enjoyed listening to the soft rise and fall of her voice. Loved it even. Listening to the soothing quality of her voice, even if it wasn't filled with all that emotional stuff that normally helped him follow a conversation.

And it was almost like she was here. If he closed his eyes and just listened. It was almost like she was right beside him telling him about her day. It was nice. She was nice. Probably way too nice if her letter was anything to go by. After all, who sat through boring meetings all day without one complaint?

Her words continued to slip past him, most not really registering. Which was fine. He didn't really need to hear every word. Not when he could just listen to the recording again, like he was now.

"…As for your mastery of disguise, I do hope you are not referring to the infiltration of the Hyuuga Military Police Force security buildings during the Fire Festival of the founder's year one hundred and one. If you were admitting to some wrong doing then I would be forced to report such involvement; however, I am confident you had nothing to do with that particular risk to Konoha security…"

Naruto blushed lightly at the statement, unable to stop the color from rising to his cheeks despite this not being the first time he'd heard the teasing comment. He wasn't ashamed of his pranking days. He had, by the end, been near impossible to catch and certainly not in the act. But this was his best friend, so he would eventually have to tell her about those crazy days. Just maybe after the statues were up on the majority of his offenses. He certainly didn't want to be punished for it. Especially not when Jiji had said if he didn't get caught then it wouldn't be his fault, or something to that effect. Even then, he could still see Hinata-hime making him give a formal apology to her uncle.

'And Hyuuga Bossman would probably deserve one, just for all the gray hairs,' Naruto thought as her words soon came to an end, the cadence of her voice quickly replaced by familiarity of his own.

"Okay so Awesome Ninja Letters Part 2…"

His finger already on the button, Naruto fast forwarded through his section again. He didn't need to hear it again. Not this soon. Not when it hadn't even been two hours since he'd last played the recordings in its entirety. He knew what he'd said. That and he got off on tangents like a lot. No really, it was embarrassingly often. Clearly it had been a while since his last prank because he'd all but forgotten how annoying it was to listen to his own tangents. Although Hinata-hime had yet to complain, so maybe it wasn't so bad…

"…founder's year one hundred and three at 2220 hours. Uzumaki-kun, it would appear that Nara-san and I will be remaining in the capital for the foreseeable future. In that regard, Tatsuki-san arranged for our relocation to one of the formerly empty Hyuuga Clan apartments. The move was quick and efficient, however, as we had anticipated a significantly abbreviated stay within the city, there were a number of items that required procurement from Konoha. The last of those articles arrived this morning while I was otherwise engaged with the Daimyo…"

Naruto's frown returned at the mention of the old man holding his best friend hostage. He sure hoped she had a way to combat all that boredom that he just knew she was experiencing. What he wouldn't do to find some way to help.

"Well, at least she has Mr. Purple to brighten up her new place," Naruto mumbled to himself, remembering the good fortune he'd lucked into when his clone, he couldn't remember his chosen name but his clone didn't know that, had come across the begonias rex, or painted-leaf begonia, while he'd been chasing butterflies. Sure, Naruto had been a little peeved considered that clone was supposed to be working on the latest wind chakra exercise, but the plant had been pretty and it seemed like the perfect gift to give his best friend to brighten up her day. "Plus, nothing quite says home away from home like a nice begonia." And he definitely knew how good it felt to be a little less out of place in one's own home.

"…the information you sent in your last correspondence concerning Inari-san is more than adequate for suggested literature. As Inari-san is of similar age to Hanabi-chan, I have a list of a number of appropriate works that he may enjoy already prepared. If it is appropriate, I will have Yuusuke-san send copies to him directly…"

With a click, the tape wound back, spinning to hear the familiar lift of her voice, "…offer any guidance on the villagers of Wave's desires to construct a statue in your likeness. Of the Ten Noble Families only one holds the practice of immortalizing one's likeness in stone socially acceptable. With the exception of the Valley of New Beginnings, there exist no statue of a member of the First Family in Fire Nation. If, however, the idea makes you uncomfortable, then I suggest you continue with your current course of action and delay the project. I am confident that the people of Wave will understand. On a slightly different note, the information you sent in your last correspondence concerning Inari-san is…"

Closing his eyes, he focused on the steady cadence of her voice just listening to every slight uptick and low hum as they washed over him. Like this, his surroundings forgotten practically nonexistent beyond the closed lids of his eyes, he could see his best friend. Her body held stiffly, back ramrod straight and hands tucked neatly in the sleeves of her haori as she focused her unwavering attention squarely on him. That intense focus evident even behind the thick folds of her black blindfold.

And sure, it was a little harder to pick out the little things when he couldn't see her. When he couldn't see the slight tilt of her head or shifting of her shoulders. Couldn't see all the small signals that magnified what she normally left unsaid. But he was quickly finding that he didn't really need all that. Not when he was beginning to catch the little inflections coloring her voice. Each lift in her tone just as illuminating to the underlying emotion of each statement as any slight change in her body language had ever been.

Of course he really shouldn't have been so surprised. Not when he'd basically had her voice playing on repeat for the last week or so, listening to her letters as often and as frequent as humanly possible and wishing he could listen more. So yeah, it totally made sense that the slight almost nonexistent changes of her voice were getting easier and easier to identify. So much so in fact that he was beginning to chastise himself for ever thinking that her tone had ever been devoid of emotion.

No, he definitely didn't need to just rely on what his eyes told him when it came to his best friend. He didn't need to because Hinata-hime may say a world of words without actually uttering any, but when she did speak there seemed to be just as much depth if not more. She was…

"…Well I would have if I hadn't been interrupted!"

Naruto startled at the sound of his own voice, eyes snapping open as he quickly sped through his argument with his clones. Sometimes he wondered how Hinata-hime could stand the near constant back and forth because sometime even he wanted to tear his hair out.

"…unfortunately my time rarely affords an opportunity to partake in freshly made foods; however, one of my new retainers has expressed cooking as an ardent pastime. As a result, Nara-san and I now rely less on takeout then in the previous weeks. Of course if you believe that a pasta maker is imperative, Uzumaki-kun, then I shall have one ordered immediately to give Minoru-san the option of using it if he so chooses…"

'That's better,' Naruto thought as he settled back into his spot, the grass cushioning his head as he stared up at the sky peeking out behind the trees. Like this he could focus solely on the sound of Hinata-hime's voice. Could spot the slight tinge of humor as she teased him over his prankster days. Could smile at her pleasant surprise at finding a good challenge in a game of go against Shikamaru.

Hinata-hime was full of emotions just simmering beneath the surface. And every lift and dip of her voice reflected that. In some ways, deciphering the emotions hidden beneath her words was just as rewarding as reading the small shifts of her body. Each movement of her voice carrying a different feeling, deep with hidden meaning. They were the words left unsaid because of silly Hyuuga decorum.

Well, he heard them. He heard the joy and the hidden laughter and the sly amusement and the deep disappointment filtered around the endless frustration. They weren't just apart of her body language. They were here too, in her voice. And he'd just needed to listen in order to catch what his best friend truly meant when she spoke to him.

Speaking of listening. He'd have to remember to dig a little deeper into the Jiji issue and figure out what he was doing because none of this sounded like the old man. No, it just didn't make sense. Not helping his people avoid what could only be the most boring conversation at hand when it really didn't seem necessary. Jiji just didn't seem worried enough about how long the Daimyo was keeping one of his ninja.

'Okay, two of his ninja,' Naruto corrected as he once again remembered that Shikamaru was the lucky bastard that got to be his best friend's Chuunin partner. He wasn't jealous. Honestly. He was just a little annoyed that Jiji had listened to Ero-sannin instead of himself when he'd been explaining why he'd get more out of partnering with Hinata-hime and not hanging around a perverted old man.

Okay, so maybe Jiji's decision to make him leave with the pervert made sense. After all, when you needed to find someone, then it was always best to use the best ninja you had for the job. And really, Jiji couldn't find anyone better. But still, that didn't change the fact that he'd missed out on partnering with his best friend.

Looking away from the bright blue sky above him, Naruto frowned as he eyed the surrounding area. He didn't have a clone in sight, sealing practice having fallen to them today. Sighing deeply he shrugged his disappointment away. 'Oh well, I'll just have to remember to make a note with a clone when they get back.'

Right now, he was more concerned with listening to Hinata-hime's letters. Smiling to himself, he followed Hinata-hime's voice again. This was the part where she talked about Hanabi-chan. His smile widen. He loved listening to Hinata-hime speak, but he probably loved hearing her say his name with so much affection even more. Especially because she usually reserved that affection for when she spoke about her little sister.

'Hinata-hime's such a great big sister, and Hanabi-chan sounds super awesome. But we can't let the stuffy Hyuuga decorum limit little Hanabi-chan's fun. We'll have to get her something really good. Maybe something loud. Or something that explodes just to liven up the Hyuuga Compound.'

"…When I was younger I tended to a bonsai tree with my mother, however, as of late I have had limited opportunity to do more than indulge in a short walk through the Hyuuga zen gardens on occasion. However, do not despair the Hyuuga zen gardens are perhaps some of the best zen gardens in all of Fire Nation. As such, the experience is more than enjoyable."

"On that note, I look forward to giving you a proper tour of the Hyuuga Compound. While you have managed to infiltrate the Compound already, I doubt your concern with avoiding detection would have afforded you an opportunity to adequately appreciate your surroundings. Unless you are vehemently opposed to the idea, I shall have Tatsuki-san schedule the tour at her earliest convenience."

Naruto waited patiently through the familiar pause, excited at the prospect of exploring the Hyuuga Compound with his best friend. That would certainly be a day to remember.

"It may have been forward of me to send a gift, however, I hope you find the charm agreeable. Upon hearing about your difficulties and hesitation with delving into the art of meditation, I felt I might encourage the habit by addressing some of your concerns.

"As a novice in the art of meditation you may find it more beneficial to have a focal point in order to further ground your thoughts into one specific location. I have been informed that the charm I have sent you is a rather endearing effigy of an orange fox. It was my desire that such a charm would bring you some form of pleasant sensation. Additionally, it may please you to learn that Hanabi-chan also has a small focal item in similar effigy, although her charm is in a more appropriate white."

Naruto clutched the small charm in his hand, a small smile on his face as he thought of Hinata-hime's thoughtfulness. He had no doubt that little Hanabi-chan's meditation charm had also been a gift from her big sister. It was just like his best friend to be this nice.

"While I understand your hesitation to agree with your sensei, meditation does hold many favorable attributes, many from which I believe you would greatly benefit. The activity allows for a calmness of mind and clarity of focus that could only enhance the quality of your training. Additionally, proper meditation can alleviate stress while also increasing your deductive capabilities. And while I am sure that Ji-sama would not approve, meditation also increases your creativity and energy levels. As your friend, I would be remiss if I did not encourage you to continue your foray into the art of meditation. Although, as the leader of my clan perhaps I should discourage the practice."

Naruto could feel the restrained laughter at Hinata-hime's words. A short pause filling the space where he knew she had said everything there was to say, everything she would say out loud anyway. Her reluctance mirrored his own, and for a moment he wondered how she saw his voice in these messages.

"I fear I must attend to other business before the day can truly end. I greatly appreciate the unique perspective that you bring to any situation as I find it invaluable as I move forward with my own decisions. As for the Hokage, I shall keep your words in mind as I proceed with further interactions. As always, I patiently await your next correspondence. Sincerely… Hinata."

As the recorder cut off, Naruto contemplated rewinding to listen for just a little while longer. After all, these were the moments that made him warm and happy, the light teasing quality of her voice never failing to bring a smile to his face. And yeah, his heart did ache a little at the sound of her farewell, reluctant in the heavy pause before she bid him goodnight, but even then, all that did was motivate him more to send a quick reply.

Sighing heavily, Naruto placed the recorder in his pocket. For now he needed to get back to work and stop procrastinating. While he hated meditation training, Hinata-hime had a great point. This wasn't just busy work. This was how he'd become stronger. And he had to become stronger. Hinata-hime wouldn't wait for him. She couldn't afford to. Nodding to himself, Naruto let one more thought of his correspondence with Hinata-hime cross his mind. Tonight, he'd send his reply, hopefully he'd have something interesting to tell her. After all, the Legendary Loser was still out there waiting to be found by all his awesomeness. Until then, he needed to get back to training.


	10. Luck of the Gods

**AN:** Yoshi! The story continues. Naruto train hard my friend. Train hard.

Oh and we don't own anything.

* * *

 ** _Arc – Transition of Power_**

 _Chapter Eight – Luck of the Gods_

With the recorder resting somewhat distractedly in his pocket, Naruto cast one last look at the sky above him before finally pulling himself upright. He'd procrastinated long enough, now he needed to finally get to work on mastering Ero-sannin's crazy meditation technique.

"Wind chakra exercise my ass," Naruto mumbled as he crossed his legs, arms resting lightly against the bent limbs. He didn't really believe the man, but that was fine because he did believed in Hinata-hime. So even if this 'exercise' didn't work like it was meant to, at least he'd be getting the regular meditation training that his best friend seemed to believe would help him. If she saw the importance of meditation alone, then there really wasn't any reason he shouldn't at least try the technique.

Of course, despite being shown the pose only a few days ago, it took Naruto a few moments to remember the exact position that the pervert had told him to sit in. It felt weird, his shoulders slumped and his body more relaxed than he normally let himself be without at least four clones nearby, but he powered through. This was apparently what it took to meditate. So he wasn't about to give up now before he'd even started.

Clutching his new token, one lazy thumb rubbing absentmindedly against the soft fur of the little orange fox, Naruto tried to focus. The little charm seemed to help. Not that he'd had any doubt. And especially not when his best friend had been so thoughtful as to get the little fox in his favorite color. He liked it. Well, he liked that Hinata-hime had thought enough about him to get it for him. As it was, he wasn't exactly a big fan of the way his stomach dropped as a heavy weight settled at the bottom of it every time his gaze traced dark whisker marks a little too familiar for comfort. But he was fairly sure that had very little to do with the charm itself.

Relaxing his shoulders which had tensed back up in the last few seconds, Naruto shifted his focus. He was here for a purpose, and it wasn't to worry about the odd feelings he seemed to get at his best friend's gift. Breathing in deeply, he focused his attention inwards, searching for the familiar feel of his chakra. Tracking the slow, steady movement as the energy flowed within his veins.

In. Out. In. Out.

This was the easy part. In some ways, he'd done this thousands of times, searched for the remnants of his chakra. Possibly hundreds of thousands of times if he was being completely honest. And like always, he easily tracked the warmth that radiated from within, automatically pushing outwards to find his like images without conscious thought.

'No, no don't do that,' he thought to himself as he pulled back from the feeling of his clones, just the ten of them now they glowed brighter than anything else. 'This isn't about them,' his thoughts continued, ignoring the bright beacons. 'Remember what that old pervert told us, this is about the wind,' he finished finally successfully shifting his focus away from the familiar feeling of his own energy scattered across the land because as familiar as it seemed, this process really was different.

"And apparently, different means harder than I thought," he grumbled quietly to himself as the wind continuously slipped from his concentration. It was like it just didn't want to stay in the same place, like water slipping through his fingertips when he tried to take a drink from the river.

His eyes popped open in frustration, an angry sigh escaping his lips as he flopped onto his back. This was meditation. It wasn't supposed to be this complicated. 'But I can't give up. Not now, not ever,' he thought as he pushed himself back to a seated position. "Alright, alright. I've got this. Just gotta focus!" Naruto pounded his thighs psyching himself up as he folded his body back into his meditation pose.

Fingers toying with his little token, suddenly an idea occurred to him. Shifting the token, he maneuvered his body so that he could clasped the small fox with both hands, clutching it tightly before loosening once more. He nodded to himself. 'I've got this.'

In. Out. In. Out.

Without warning the wind whipped around him, moving in a constant swirl as he manipulated his chakra outward. Frowning, he tried to suppress the flow, fighting against the rapid wind currents as he focused on his connection to it, but the more he focused the faster the wind moved. This wasn't right. This wasn't about moving the wind, it was supposed to be about being the wind. He clutched his small fox tighter as he focused on the steady cadence of his breathing.

In. Out. In. Out.

Just as suddenly as the wind seemed to move around him, it blew through him, pulling him along leaving him with no choice but to follow. It was bizarre. The feeling of moving and yet remaining completely motionless. He flowed with the current of the wind as easily as if he'd been swept away by a strong river current. And this was, well, it wasn't so much like chasing the air around him as being the air. He didn't need to fight to be everywhere at once. He just needed to be.

In. Out. In. Out.

His breathing remained steady as he skimmed atop each blade of grass. He was the rustle in the air, gentle swaying the grass below. He was the whisper between the trees, slipping past each leaf like a call to dance.

It was freeing. He was everywhere and yet nowhere all at once. And the life. There was just so much life that the wind touched that he touched. He was the breeze supporting his feathery friends, large and small. Like blobs in the air… No that wasn't quite right.

In. Out. In. Out.

As Naruto relaxed into the wind, he could pick out the little difference in wing and body shape. In his mind's eye, he could make out the brilliant blue of a pacific swallow. A bird he'd seen countless times in the skies near here. 'Oh, and there are his friends!' Naruto thought as the wind took him higher into the sky. It was almost as if he were soaring through the bright sky, and if he looked down he'd see the ground below him.

Unconsciously, Naruto looked down only to nearly fall right out of the sky. Arms waving wildly, he tried to right himself. The wind rustled through his hair, pulling at the worn fabric of his orange jacket. He couldn't believe it. He wasn't just the wind, he was really, truly flying! A wide grin spread across his face at the notion. He couldn't just let this amazing opportunity pass him by unexplored. Shooting up into the clouds, Naruto yelled in excitement.

He was flying! "I can see everything from here!" He grinned as the world opened up to him, the sun bright on his back. He wasn't sure how, some miracle of wind chakra training or something as equally as unimportant, but suddenly he knew, just knew where every road below him led. Knew every twist and turn. Knew every possible destination and it was all laid right there before him, just waiting for him to choose a path.

Almost instinctively, he turned to his left, gaze settling along a road that he knew would lead him back to Konoha. Would lead him away from his perverted Sensei and a seemingly pointless mission and back to the most wonderful and delicious ramen at the number one ramen stand in the whole country. His mouth watered just at the thought, the memory, of the world's best tasting food. If he but followed that path then he'd be minutes away from the biggest bowl of the heavenly food known as ramen, steam clouding his vision as he practically inhaled kami-sama's greatest gift to the ninja world.

But as much as the idea excited him, he knew he wouldn't follow that path. No, he had a more important adventure waiting for him. The world's best ramen, unfortunately, would have to wait. 'Still, I'll have to have the biggest bowl imaginable when I get back,' he thought with a nod. 'And Hinata-hime too,' he added with a smile. 'I've got to take her too!' He was sure she'd love it just as much as he did.

Shifting in his floating position high in the sky, Naruto turned his gaze to the road he knew would lead to Haku-chan and the Land of Wave. His new clan. His new family. It was already growing so much, Wave was already growing, and that was all because of Haku-chan. It would be a marvel to behold one day, he just knew it; but that day was not today.

Not now. Not yet. The growth and the brilliance would also have to wait, because he was finally free. Unshackled to a pervy sage constantly yelling at him to work harder. Unburdened with the task of searching for some old hag to replace Jiji even though the old man was alive and kicking. Perfectly capable of doing the job himself.

'Well, maybe Jiji isn't exactly top shelf anymore,' Naruto thought as he remembered the still fresh loss caused by the sacrifice made by his best friend's dad. Jiji had to be saved then and even now it seemed as if he wasn't quite the man Naruto remembered. Not if he didn't do everything in his power to serve his ninjas. Not if he would leave Hinata-hime trapped in the capital when she could be home, in Konoha. Or maybe even with him, searching for some old woman and training together.

Twirling in the sky, Naruto put his grumblings behind him. He didn't know what was up with Jiji and he certainly didn't know a thing about the old hag he'd been sent to find. With so little information, he knew he'd have to withhold final judgement at least until he knew more. Surely it would all become clear once he met the woman. Jiji had to think she could do the job for a reason after all.

Besides, he was flying! There was no time to dwell on things he couldn't change. No, he was finally free, and he wasn't about to let this opportunity go to waste. 'In fact…' Naruto thought letting the sentence go unfinished in his head as he turned sharply in the sky. He knew exactly where he would go. Knew exactly what he would do with his new found freedom.

Eying the mess of roads below him, Naruto easily found the one he was looking for, the one that would lead him straight to the Fire Nation Capital. Here was his chance to save the day! With a wide grin, he shot off in the direction of the capital city wind whipping through the short strands of his hair. Hinata-hime was there probably dying of boredom! "I've got to save her!" he declared as his surroundings blurred around him.

In an instance, he was at the palace gates giant gold arches as high as a mountain there to greet him. It was everything he thought the palace ought to look like and more. Fancy designs etched into the gold frame. It looked like it told an epic heroic story, but he didn't have time to suss out the details. No, now that he was here, he needed to find a way inside.

Slipping past the gates with the ease that only a seasoned prankster could manage, Naruto snuck into the palace proper. He ignored the ornate detail lining the winding hallways to focus on the strong pull from his gut. He knew where his best friend was, tied down by boring meetings, and he was here to save her before all the life and joy could be sucked out of her.

Speeding down the corridors, he was there in a flash of orange, bursting through large fancy looking doors only to find his best friend shackled by her own manners! He ignored the constant 'blah, blah, blah' spewing from the Daimyo's mouth, but Hinata-hime didn't have his lack of decorum. No, his best friend was stuck listening to that nonsense as her spirit waned. Clearly, she was dying of boredom.

"Not on my watch!" Naruto yelled, drawing the attention of the entire room, effectively breaking the spell of good manners that had held Hinata-hime helplessly in place.

"And who are you?" the Daimyo questioned, standing from his raised seat at the center of the room. "How dare you interrupt this important lecture!"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto of the Uzumaki Clan best friend to Hinata-hime, and I'd rather die a thousand deaths before I'd leave my best friend here, held hostage by you, believe it! No one deserves this kind of torture!"

"Mwahahaha!" the Daimyo laughed diabolically, his fancy looking hat swaying on his head. "You, the shortest ninja I've ever seen, think you can beat me and my legendary Fire Temple Guards?"

As if called forth from the very earth, twelve hulking figures appeared flanking the Fire Lord. Their faces were hidden by thick layers of charcoal, blacking out their eyes in menacing triangles that screamed death. And worse yet, strapped to their massive bodies was the most impressive set of armor Naruto had ever imagined let alone seen. It was polished bronze dou and kusazuri, thick and heavy from the looks of it. And kabuto with deadly sharp horns longer than his forearms. All of it, more than just a little intimidating.

"Mwahahaha!" the Daimyo's laughter brought Naruto's gaze back to the man as he spoke. "You don't stand a chance!"

A grimace formed on Naruto's face as he took in the Fire Lord's words. 'Maybe he's right,' Naruto thought, his head hanging for a moment. 'Maybe…'

Just then a flash of black and white drew Naruto's attention. 'Hinata-hime!' He thought as his frown turned into a determined grin. Squaring his shoulders, Naruto turned back to face the diabolical mastermind that was the Daimyo.

"Yeah, maybe alone I'd be no match for you and your guards, but you seem to be forgetting something far more important. Or more accurately someone," Naruto announced confidently, hands placed firmly on his hips as he pushed his chest out in defiance.

"Oh yeah? And who might that be?"

Silence filled the room at the question, Naruto waiting with baited breath until a steady voice, of which Naruto was sure could command mountains with just a breath, broke the silence.

"I believe Uzumaki-kun is referring to me, Takekasai-dono." Rising from her previously seated position, Hinata-hime turned to face the Fire Lord with the same confidence that Naruto always expected. She was fierce even in the measured quality of her voice, ready to stand with him. "Now that my friend is here, I cannot let him fight alone."

"Yoshi!" Naruto jumped in the air excited, this was going better than he'd thought it would.

Surprised, the Daimyo stuttered, stumbling over his words as he spoke, "How dare you?"

"Oh, we dare," Naruto shot back with a grin. Clearly, the Daimyo was unfamiliar with the power of friendship. But Naruto was more than happy to introduce him to it.

Beside him, Hinata-hime remained silent, but he didn't mind. No, her body language said all he needed to know. It said that she was with him. That she would always stand by him as his friend even if it went against what she thought was proper because she believed in him like he believed in her.

Suddenly, pride swelled within his chest, a warmth he couldn't explain heating his whole body as he traced the hard lines of her posture. She was ready to face the Daimyo with him. She trusted that he was here for the right reasons. And he wasn't about to let her down now. This was their moment. The moment for which he'd been slaving under the unbearable guidance of a legendary pervert. This was the moment they took on the world.

"Very well, then," the Daimyo stated, resigned as he collected himself in the face of Hinata-hime's unexpected challenge. "I see you've made your choice."

"Indeed," Hinata-hime replied simply, a short nod the only indicator that she would not enjoy what must occur. She was too nice like that. Naruto was definitely going to have to teach her to put herself first every once in awhile.

"Guards!" the Daimyo called, turning away from them with a disappointed frown. "Teach these two a lesson in humility they shall not soon forget," he finished dismissively with a wave of his hand.

"Hai!" the guards answered as one.

And then all hell broke out as the mythical fire temple guards descended upon them as one. Pushed back by the twelve hulking figures, Naruto was hard pressed to slip a kunai into his hand, blocking a downward strike that would have otherwise taken off his head.

'Crap, these guys aren't kidding,' he thought as he was pushed back again, the sheer force of the blow sliding him backwards despite managing to block it. His confidences would have waned if not for the familiar presence of his best friend at his back. Like reading the gentle changes in the air, Naruto felt rather than heard the struggle behind him as she pushed back a guard. A wave of confidence washed over him. Hinata-hime was here, with him, fighting back to back. They wouldn't fail here. They couldn't.

The first guard went down like a sack of potatoes, a mirrored thump resounding behind him as Hinata-hime also took down one of the menacing creatures. He didn't know how he'd done it, but that didn't matter. 'Yeah! Two down, ten to go,' he thought excitedly.

Zing!

A chain zipped by him, the spiked head of it just barely missing him as he jumped out of the way. 'Shoot, gotta focus,' he thought, chastising himself for celebrating so soon.

Reoriented himself, Naruto nearly missed his next dodge as he dropped to the ground and rolled away from a sword larger than his entire body. Springing back to his feet, Naruto had just enough time to notice that in all the commotion, he'd somehow gotten separated from his best friend.

'Damn it,' Naruto thought, arm shaking as he blocked another massive blow. It was four against one which meant that Hinata-hime was struggling against the lion's share and he was just barely holding his own. This was not going well.

Suddenly, his back was against the wall leaving him with very little options other than to duck as a gauntlet cover fist slammed into the surface behind him. The wall, once ornate and prettier than any wall had a right to be, crumbled into a pile of dust shattering what must have been a grossly overpriced painting with it. Tucking into a roll, Naruto deftly dodged the rain of punches, kunai strikes and the deadly piercing of swords. It was pure luck really that as he rolled himself into a corner he managed to blindly pick up a piece of something that he could use to block the next onslaught.

'Oh, wow, who knew wood could be this helpful,' Naruto thought as he twirled the long piece of wood he'd managed to pick up. It was more staff than anything else, and strangely enough his body already seemed to know how to use it.

With a twist and a turn and a spin, Naruto blocked blow after blow, gaining back the ground he'd lost in a fraction of the time he thought it should take. Suddenly, he was back where he'd started. Hinata-hime to his back as they weaved in and out of each other, deftly taking down guard after guard because obviously, together they could take on anything. The whole world even, if they had to. So really, these legendary twelve honor guards of the Daimyo's were nothing compared to them.

The last hulking form collapsed to the ground with a pain filled groan and Naruto didn't waste a second before grabbing his best friend's hand to lead her away. They were good, but it didn't mean they should tempt fate. Especially not when the Daimyo looked that angry, surprise clouding his features as the weird man gasped.

"But how…" the Daimyo muttered, fiddling with a fan that seemed to come out of thin air.

Taking pity on the man, Naruto called out over his shoulder as he pulled Hinata-hime away from the scene, "Together we're unstoppable! Believe it!"

Racing through doors larger than they had any right to be, Naruto chanced one last look at the broken man, a grin etching across his lips as he watched the Daimyo collapse in defeat. They'd done it. Together. Nothing could break him from this high.

Out of the throne room, hand in hand with Hinata-hime, Naruto led them blindly before remembering that he actually had no idea how he'd even managed to get here in the first place. Turning a corner, he let his best friend's hand go, allowing her to take the lead so they could finally make it out of this maze of corridors.

As he expected, Hinata-hime easily took the lead, changing their direction to what could only be the way out, at least he hoped it was the way out. He didn't want to know what would happen to them if they got caught. 'Probably subject us to endless boring lectures. A fate worse than death.'

Of course, he knew that once they'd managed to escape, managed to get far enough away from the commotion to not have to worry about boring lectures and being caught, that his best friend would scold him something serious. She'd scold him in that tone he'd heard her use that one time when addressing one of her clansmen. Disappointed and heavy and stern in that way that she expected better and he'd failed. But that wouldn't be for another few hours which was more than enough time for him to come up with a better excuse then he wanted to rescue her from boredom. He couldn't think of a good one at the moment, but he was sure there was something. And if there wasn't, well, she'd forgive him eventually.

Naruto followed her down twists and crazy turns that had no business being in a palace. Really, how had he even made it this far in the first place? At least he wouldn't need to go back. Which was a really good thing because he'd already lost track of their position.

Eventually, after Naruto had gotten more lost than he ever thought possible, Hinata-hime slowed down, stopping at the edge of a corridor with just enough time to miss the loud thundering footsteps that ran passed them a heartbeat later.

'Ah, Hinata-hime's super sensitive ears at work,' he thought proudly. Trust his best friend to keep them out of even more trouble than he'd already gotten them into. Her hearing was their saving grace even as they continued through the maze of hallways. Stopping and shifting and turning and weaving, it took them what felt like forever before they eventually escaped into the grandest garden Naruto had ever laid eyes on. Above them, the sun sunk behind the horizon, the once bright blue sky slipping into darkness. Ready to relax, Naruto was surprised at the still loud footsteps of the hundreds of guards coming from behind them. If they didn't move now, then they'd be caught for sure.

"Sheesh! You'd think they'd give up after all this," Naruto complained as the sound of thundering steps grew louder. The heated glare Hinata-hime gave him could be felt even through the heavy fabric of her blindfold. Clearly, his best friend was not amused.

Smiling sheepishly, Naruto conceded the unspoken point, "Okay, okay. You're right. Maybe I shouldn't have interrupted your meeting with the Daimyo, but it just sounded so boring! I couldn't leave you to that fate."

"And now we are fugitives on the run."

"But we're together," Naruto quickly replied, emphasizing the most important point. They may have to run for the rest of their lives, but at least they'd be running together. "And we can beat anyone when we're together!"

Acknowledging his statement with a simple nod, Hinata-hime turned back around to lead the way as they continued their escape. Silent footsteps carried them across the strangely empty pavement of side streets and back alleys until they were well away from the Fire Nation Capital and deep within the surrounding forest and countryside. Even then, they didn't stop. As if demons nipped at their heels, they ran unendingly.

Ever vigilant, Naruto kept on the lookout for somewhere, anywhere, to hide. He was sure they were being followed. The zigzag path that Hinata-hime was leading them on only somewhat helpful as they attempted to escape their pursuers. He'd insulted the Daimyo. He really shouldn't have been surprised that they weren't giving up easily.

No, they needed to disappear, and fast.

As if the very thought summoned it, a temple suddenly appeared at their left flank. Grand and dark and more than capable of hiding them for however long they'd need it. Quietly, Naruto sent up a short thank you to whatever god was looking out for them because clearly they'd been blessed by more than just fate.

Grabbing Hinata-hime's hand again, Naruto tugged her into the safety of the temple. 'And not a minute too soon,' he thought as the pounding footsteps of their pursuers passed them. Nodding once in gratitude, an unspoken command to relax, their grasp slipped as his best friend turned to go further into the temple. She was right of course. They were safe for now. They could afford to take a moment to just breath easy.

Stepping forward to follow his best friend, Naruto first noticed strangely angled high windows. Well, they were less windows and more just openings near the top of the temple each angled to allow the bright light of the full moon to light the temple in a strange pattern.

'Or not so strangely,' Naruto thought as he turned to see the majority of the pale light landing on the statue of a woman, he thought looked a little familiar, in the middle of the room. Before the statue sat Hinata-hime, meditating or maybe just praying, he wasn't entirely sure since he'd never actually gotten around to asking her about the religion thingy that only the Hyuuga seemed to follow. Taking another step forward he was stopped as the moon light shifted. Bright and hauntingly pale, it almost burned the surface of the temple, washing it white for a moment before practically engulfing Hinata-hime and the pretty statue in its light.

Together, his best friend and the strange statue glowed an ethereal light, leaving Naruto completely mesmerized. Glancing up, Naruto took note of the fullness of the moon as it hung directly overhead. It was…

Well, it was beautiful. Radiant in a way that he really didn't have the words for and his only wish was that Hinata-hime could see it too. 'Oh, well, there's no reason I can't describe it too her,' he thought as he slid his gaze back to his best friend. There was no way he'd let her miss this. It was beyond anything he'd ever before experienced.

Except, she didn't need his eyes. Not when he turned to see a well missed gaze staring back at him. And she looked at him just as he remembered. Really looking at him, her Hyuuga gaze, alight with that slight lavender tinge that almost all Hyuuga had, he could feel everything in that gaze.

He smiled at the sight unable and unwilling to turn away. This felt… this felt right. It felt like this was the way that it was always supposed to be. And it had been far too long since he'd last seen her like this. The surety of her gaze. The strength of her stare. The unwavering quality of her attention focused solely on him. Honestly, he'd forgotten what this had felt like. Forgotten how expressive her eyes were. Forgotten what it felt like when she looked at him, her gaze speaking volumes as whole conversations were had in the wake of such silence.

He knew without a doubt that she could hear his own words as they continued to share this one look. She could hear him because she knew him.

She could hear his silent, 'I missed you'. Just as easily as he hear her responding, 'Thank you'. And he knew she heard the apology ready at the back of his throat, 'sorry, I know I could have done that better'. He knew because she knew. A surety that would never change.

Suddenly, they were thrown from their shared moment as their hidden temple was plunged into darkness. Without thought, they were back to back ready to face whatever lurked in the darkness. He could feel the threat pounding against his chest, creeping at the edge of his consciousness. It was there and it wasn't something as simple and easy as palace guards. No, this was something else. Something sinister. Evil in a way he'd rather forget.

In an instant, red light flooded the area forcing Naruto's gaze up and back to the night sky. The moon once full had waned into the sharp edges of a crescent. Hanging ominously in the sky it flashed a brilliant gold brighter than the sun before fading away to almost nothing, just a faint glow in the sky.

It was then that the shadows came alive. Huge inescapable figures that seemed to melt into existence all around them. They were trapped. This beautiful temple had been a cleverly disguised trap the whole time!

Taking a calming breath, Naruto fell into the gentle fist, taking comfort from the shift in the air that told him that Hinata-hime had done the same. Together. As long as they were together, nothing could defeat them. Not even this.

The shadows sprung at them, glowing red eyes staring back at them in the distance. Then everything went black.

* * *

Gasping for air, Naruto snapped awake.

"Whaaaaa!" His lungs ached, heart pounding as he blinked hazily at his surroundings. Each breath was a labored heave, each new pull of fresh air burning as his surroundings slowly came into focus. The clearing. Seated in nearly the same position as he remembered starting his meditation, hands firmly clutching his little orange fox, Naruto blinked away the last remnants of sleep.

The wind blew through his hair as he took in the quiet around him, a sad sigh on his lips. 'So it was just a dream then,' he thought somewhat disappointed at the prospect as he flopped on to his back, gaze pointed upwards to the clear, blue sky above him, a sky he'd been flying through only just moments prior. Or at least he'd thought he'd been flying through it. Clearly, he'd never actually left. Never lifted from the ground. Never flown past the highest treetops to touch the clouds scattered in the sky. Never raced at breakneck speeds to the Capital to rescue his best friend. No, apparently he'd been sitting here all along.

His disappointment soon gave way to a deep shiver. Even though none of it had been real, the emotions behind the dream could not be so easily dispelled. No, he'd felt true terror. Fear, undeniable and unalterable, had raced through his veins like wildfire through dry brush. Even now, his heart still raced, pounding to an unfamiliar rhythm all of its own. Which was strange because he'd never quite felt like that before. Not exactly. Not in the way that terror seeped into his very bones.

And nothing could justify it, the terror. Even with his best friend by his side it had been unrelenting, unmistakable. Only just bearable because he hadn't been alone. He feared what it would be like if she hadn't been there. Hadn't been beside him, her presence a familiar hum at the back of his mind. He wondered what it would have felt like if he'd been alone.

'But I wasn't alone,' Naruto thought with some conviction. Willing the rather depressing thoughts to leave his mind. With Hinata-hime by his side, it seemed that his demons were finally bearable. And that had to mean something. No, it had to mean more than just something.

Naruto closed his eyes and glowing red stared back at him. Cold and terrifying as they always were, but he didn't flinch away from his demon, his nightmare. Not this time. Not when Hinata-hime was still with him. He clutched the small little fox token harder, a reminder that she thought of him even when she was busy. Even when she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. He was not forgotten.

Shaking the fear from his mind, Naruto pulled himself back to a seated position and concentrated on his breathing. Another connection that he was sure to share with his best friend.

In. Out. In. Out.

He wasn't sure if it was the thought of his best friend beside him, with him even if it was just in the form of a small charm, or if this meditation breathy thing was actually working, but at least his heart rate slowed to a more normal pace. And slowly, he came back to himself.

'Okay, so first attempt at meditation not a hundred percent success, but at least it was something. Really, I was doing pretty good in the first few minutes,' he thought as he pushed up from the ground.

Back on his feet, Naruto stretched with a wide yawn. At least, his impromptu nap had been invigorating. "Speaking of naps…" Naruto muttered as he rubbed under his chin. Those glowing red eyes had been hella scary, but he didn't really think he'd woken up just because of that. No, he and Hinata-hime had taken on tougher battles in his dreams before, unwinnable odds even. He was confident in their skills, even in his dreams, so that really shouldn't have woken him up.

'Yeah, that and I totally feel like a new person,' he thought with a nod. And that could only mean he'd been woken up by new memories. Hopefully whichever clone had dispelled himself had done so because of critical information and not some accidental death because honestly, Naruto was getting a little tire of how clumsy he could be.

Plopping back down to his spot on the ground, Naruto closed his eyes once more easily falling into the practice motion of looking inward. New memories found, he began the long task of sifting through them. When clones lived for this long, unfortunately, they had a wealth of mundane and completely unnecessary memories. Too many really for him to fully review. So, he shifted through them with only two relevant words in mind. Hyuuga, which was a search word that he always used, and Tsunade because unfortunately the old hag was the whole point of this mission.

Naruto frowned as he sifted through memory after memory of a smoky bar and old men gambling. Bars like that were his least favorite place, which was saying a lot because he absolutely hated the hour wait behind the local food market for his bi-weekly allotment of groceries, which barely lasted the day before rotting. 'I really don't know why anyone would want to buy milk when you can't keep it for more than a few days,' Naruto thought with a shake of his head.

Refocusing on the task at hand, Naruto noted offhandedly that the emotions of his clone mirrored his own sentiments coloring the memories with a constant feeling of distaste. Days of memories went by with only a word or two about Hyuuga and nothing relevant to his mission. Which meant that this was in all likelihood a wave of new memories caused by accidental death. Not fun to relive, but he'd still need to review it all.

'Pervert, pervert, pervert… matte ne…' Snapping his eyes open, he jumped up in excitement. Near the very end of the memories was the only woman they'd seen gambling. And she was none other than the old hag they'd been searching for! He smiled widely as he reviewed the clone's memories in more detail. Haru, it would seem, had even been invited to her hotel room.

Now, finally they could put an end to this boring mission! They could go home, or better yet, maybe he could convince Ero-sannin to swing by the Fire Capital so he could really rescue Hinata-hime. Although they would definitely not be going into any temples while they were there. Nope, no temples.

"I've gotta tell the Pervert!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping back to his feet in excitement. With more energy to burn then should probably be legal Naruto hopped around the clearing, stopping only briefly to pluck a long branch from the nearby brush so that he could reenact some of the cooler moments of his dream.

Twisting the branch in his hand, Naruto focused all his concentration on not hitting himself in the head. 'Now that would be embarrassing,' he thought as he twirled the branch around his body. 'Come on, now what was that one move?' Naruto silently questioned as he continued to spin the branch. 'Oh yeah, that's right, this,' he thought as he reversed the spin before thrusting outwards.

Unfortunately, the move didn't work quite as well as it had in his dream, or maybe he'd just gotten too worked up, and he overextended himself, using way too much force in the process. The branch nearly ripped from his hands from the movement. Overcompensating, Naruto stumbled, just narrowly managing to catch himself before diving head first into the dirt.

Zip, zip, zing!

"Nani ka?" Naruto mumbled at the odd noise. Glancing in the sound's direction, he noted three wooden shafts of what was very likely an arrow or the bolt of a crossbow. But that didn't make any sense. It especially didn't make any sense that from the angle they formed in the ground those projectiles had definitely been aimed at his head.

"Huh?" Still very much confused Naruto rolled forward when a violent shift of the wind ripped through his consciousness dropping his branch in the process.

Zip, zing, zing!

More projectiles lodged themselves into the space he'd just been. This time he'd gotten a better look at what they had been aimed at, him. 'Definitely bolts,' he thought as he rolled again, pushing off from the ground in a hand spring that left his makeshift staff where he'd dropped it just moments earlier.

Still mid-air, Naruto easily formed an all too familiar hand sign switching places with one of his clones back in their regular training area. Away from the chaos of the moment, he finally took a moment to evaluate the situation. 'Matte ne, I think…' The thought trailed off slowly as realization dawned on him. 'Someone's trying to kill me!' Naruto thought angrily, a frustrated breath escaping from his lips. "The nerve," he grumbled as he signaled to his other clones in the area, sending them back to the area he'd just left.

He let his clones take the lead, each of them slipping onto the battlefield to help the one clone he'd left dodging for his relatively short existence while he watched the scene from a distance. They certainly didn't know enough yet about his attackers for him to just go charging into the fray. Not when this particular field hadn't been rigged to explode. At least, not by him.

'Note to self, maybe I should look into the possibility of rigging all the training fields that I use,' he thought, fingers itching for one of his recorders so he could actually remember that little tidbit, but he couldn't risk giving his position away. Returning his focus back to the clearing, Naruto did his best to calculate the point of origin for the crossbow attack. That would be the best place to start.

'Okay, so there's three, no four different points of origin, but…' he took a moment to tap into his still buzzing connection to the wind. Outside himself and his clones there was only one humanlike being in the nearby vicinity. 'So four points of attack but only one person actually attacking. Probably a trap then,' he thought as he effortlessly summoned another batch of clones to scout those locations. Pervy sage had said to keep only a minimum number of clones out, but under the current circumstance, Naruto was sure even that pervert would forgive him.

Watching his clones dodge racing projectiles was not as fun as he'd always thought it would be especially right after a rather annoying comment made by said clones. In fact, he was probably never going to imagine throwing things at his clones again. At least not things that would dispel them because death by projectile was definitely not on his list of experiences to repeat.

Naruto noticed the first disabled crossbow by the loss of the attack angle. 'Good,' he thought with a nod as the dwindling number of clones in the clearing had fewer bolts to dodge. 'Means that pairing my clones up was a good idea. I should probably do that again.'

A flash of a clone's life ended by explosives alerted him that while the second crossbow was down, he was also down a clone. "A stupid clone," Naruto grumbled. The wired trap had been rather good, elegant in a way that would probably make Sasuke drool, but they were supposed to be trap masters, which meant his clones most certainly were not supposed to fall for something like that.

The last two crossbows were disabled with several more flashes of the lives of other misfortunate clones. Generally deaths he'd experienced before except for the one rather ingenious trap that Naruto was hard pressed not to steal. 'You know what. I died from that. I think I'm a little entitled to its replication,' he thought with a nod as he quickly reviewed the most glaring result of his clones actions. All the crossbows had been some automatic gadget which meant they'd disabled the machines but had left the man behind them still at large.

'Okay, so waiting it is,' Naruto thought slightly disappointed. He'd really wanted a crack at his attacker, but until he knew more he couldn't do much. 'But that's fine, this dude came after me. He certainly isn't going to leave before the job's done.'

'So, what do I know?' Naruto questioned, allowing his clones to move on to a patterned search of the area. They knew what to do. 'Well, obviously this guy wanted to catch me off guard to get the jump on me. Of course, now the cat's out of the bag,' he paused to focus back on the clearing as his two remaining clones there stood back to back ready for anything.

'Normally, you'd switch tactics once the first attack fails, so why isn't he?' He pondered the thought for only a moment before he remembered what Sakura had practically yelled at him when he'd been explaining why his hand to hand was just fine if he just kept up with the long game. 'Right, so this guy's probably no good at hand to hand. So I'll definitely want to draw him out for a close quarters fight. Or her,' he added offhandedly as he continued to wait.

"Now where are you hiding?" Naruto muttered. Suddenly another flash of a life ending too soon flooded his awareness. One of his clones had been killed by an unseen force. 'Northeast quadrant.' The information didn't give him much, but it did give him a narrowed location along with the clones still out there.

Still, his opponent was abnormally good at hiding so the next clone died in a similar fashion with a kunai shoved through his kidney before the clone could even turn to face his attacker. Naruto grinned through his grimace at the memory anyway. His opponent had just unwillingly given him more than enough information to find him. As of this moment all of the clones would be on him. They'd have him this time.

'Okay, so totally fighting a woman,' Naruto thought at the flash of the next clone's memories. The clone had gotten in enough hits for them to confirm that yes their opponent was definitely not a man and also that Sakura had been completely wrong on the whole bad at hand to hand fighting. He was definitely going to have to remember that so he could rub it in her face. 'Turns out you're not as smart as you think, Sakura.' he thought as he remembered the countless times she'd lorded over him about her superior knowledge on everything that wasn't seals and traps. Well this wasn't seals and it wasn't traps and she was most certainly still wrong.

Two nearly simultaneous flashes of memory pulled him from constructing the perfect insult to level at his friend. This woman was good. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't Sasuke or Sakura level good in her taijutsu, and she clearly didn't know much about his fighting style because his clones had managed to shift her back towards the clearing where this mess had all started. 'That and the last clone was smart enough to lay a seal on her before his death. Clone #13, you shall be remembered for your cleverness. Shall you live forever in our memories,' he thought while giving the now dispelled clone a two fingered salute.

With a plan slowly forming in the back of his mind, Naruto summoned a single clone to his side who immediately dispelled himself. His focus now fully on the clearing that his opponent circled warily from her place amongst the trees, still unwilling to rush the two head first. He watched as the clones turned to each other. A hand sign at the ready, Naruto waited for the clones to nod once before the clone on the right mirrored the motion, an equally familiar hand sign pulled up just for show. With more concentration than Naruto usually afforded the task, he summoned half a dozen clones in a semi-circle behind the two clones in the center of the clearing.

'There, now you have your target. Now time to come out and play,' he thought as his clones each palmed kunai, the reverse hold that Ero-sannin had praised for reasons Naruto hadn't bothered to listen to.

Suddenly the ground sprang up from around the six new clones' feet swallowing the four that had been too slow to react. Naruto winced at the new memories of being crushed. He never like dying that way. It always made him a little claustrophobic.

With the majority of his clones distracted and wary of the ground beneath them, they nearly all missed the dark figure that descended from the sky. With quick reflexes, the lead clone switched with one of the two clones left on the outskirts. The resulting pop and puff of smoke obscured the movements of the woman for only a moment, but apparently it was enough to have the closest clone stumbling backwards.

From what Naruto could gather, the clone had just barely managed to block with a raised kunai. Seeing their fellow clone in distress, the last two clones rushed the scene, kunai raised as they attacked together. The smoke cleared to a scene of flashing kunai and quick motions.

'Careful you idiots,' Naruto thought as he eyed the fresh cuts into the earth. Clearly, his clones had taken the initiative to apply wind chakra to the edge of their blades. Which was great as it seemed they'd managed to catch their opponent off guard at least once, but not so great with how close some of those slashes seemed to be to each other. The last thing he needed was for the whole lot of them to blow their cover because they'd killed each other. It would be the worst case of fratricide.

'Come on, come on. You just need to place one more seal on her. We should have this already,' Naruto complained, anxiously picking at a frayed string at the bottom of his jacket. He was of course not giving his clones enough credit. After all, they couldn't place this seal just anywhere. No, to get the dual seal combination to work the second seal needed to be placed directly above her navel. They had maybe a millimeter of wiggle room if that.

With another audible pop another one of his clones was gone reducing the number from three to two. At the loss of their third member, the remaining two clones jumped back to create some space. They eyed each other once, a plan at the ready. It was a plan that Naruto wasn't exactly privy to but could probably guess based on the loud scream and complete disregard for the decoy clone's person that followed.

The lead clone followed closely after one hand glowing brightly as he ran towards the woman's side. She turned the majority of her focus to the lead which was her first mistake. In an instant, the decoy clone was replaced with the lead forcing her to frantically shift focus. Hand still glowing, the clone attempted to shove it at her chest only to be stopped by a kunai in the gut.

The lead clone gasped, but held on to the last of its remaining chakra to grip the arm attached to the kunai still in its gut effectively holding her in place as the second clone finally reached her side. Her gaze snapped frantically to the second clone as she moved to block and that was where she made her second mistake because she hadn't realized that both clones would act so suicidal. Just as the second clone reached her, the lead clone popped out of existence obscuring the field in a short puff of smoke.

Naruto waited on baited breath for the smoke to clear certain only that his last clone had yet to be killed. Finally, when the smoke cleared, he was greeted to the unpleasant sight of seeing yet another clone impaled. Gaze searching frantically, a smile etched across his lips as he noticed the placement of his soon to be dead clones left hand. 'Perfect.'

"Shit, this fucker was hard to…" the woman's muttered statement faded to nothing as his last clone finally popped out of existence. "Nani ka…" she continued as she moved to jump away, but it was already too late. Suddenly, her stomach and back glowed with the power of each seal as she was stuck in place momentarily stunned as her muscles seized.

Taking that as his cue, Naruto jumped into the air, fist raised as he used gravity to mirror the aerial attack his opponent had done earlier. Wind licked at his fist as he channeled the wind around it to add a little something that was sure to have her seeing stars.

Crack!

Her head snapped back as he landed his punch, the added wind chakra tearing numerous cuts into her clothing and exposed flesh. As expected, she dropped to the ground like a rock.

"Well, that worked better than I thought it would," Naruto muttered as he bent over her checking to make sure his seal was still working and her muscles were still locked and unmovable. "Yup, way better than a stupid binding seal," he hummed as he absentmindedly summoned five more clones.

Just as he was about to turn to his clones and issue a few clean up orders, Ero-sannin raced through the clearing gasping for breath. "Kid!" The pervert yelled. "Are you alright?! I got here as fast as I could," he continued not stopping in his run until he was basically sharing the same space as Naruto.

"Yeah, I'm…" but Naruto didn't get a chance to finish as he was rather rudely manhandled. The old pervert practically lifted him from the ground as he searched every millimeter of Naruto, personally inspecting to make sure that he was actually okay. It was annoying, but…

'Well, I guess it is kind of nice to have someone looking out for me like this. Even if it's completely unnecessary,' he thought before finally pushing the old pervert away. "I'm fine. I'm fine. Really," he said as he brushed himself off. "This crazy lady came out of nowhere, but I handled it."

"I can see," the old pervert replied not so gently prodding the prone form with his foot. "You want to tell me what happened here?"

"Yeah, but maybe later," Naruto replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. They had more important things to worry about. "I've got the best news," he continued with a grin because soon enough they'd finally find that old hag and then he could finally go home. Better still, he had something really awesome to tell Hinata-hime in his next letter. She was never going to believe he took down an assassin all on his own.


End file.
